Where most girls start
Wildcats, ages 5 to 11
An hour of games with a ball, every Thursday at five. No positions, no league table, and no need to have played before.
Wildcats is the part of the club where nobody knows what offside is, and nobody needs to. It is an hour of tag with a ball, target games and very small matches, on the small pitch beside the pavilion.
Girls come at five, at seven, and at ten having never tried it because the boys at school would not pass to them. They are all in the same session, split into groups by how long they have been coming and who their friends are. Seren and three helpers run it, and the ratio stays at one adult for every eight girls.
About once a month we go to a friendly festival with other girls' clubs: short games, no scores written down, and orange squash afterwards. Nobody has to go, and girls who go once usually ask when the next one is.
A girl who turns 11 during the season stays with Wildcats until the summer unless she wants to move up. If she is already 11 on 31 August, she belongs with the under 12s, and the team finder will say so.
What she gets
- One hour on Thursdays from 5pm, all year apart from school holidays
- All balls, bibs and cones; bring water and a coat
- One adult for every eight girls, with a female coach always there
- A friendly festival about once a month, if she wants to
- A top and socks to keep when she decides to stay
What it costs
Three sessions free, then £12 a month. Top and socks £15. Everything is on the prices table, and the team finder tells you which group she belongs in this season.
Questions about wildcats, 5 to 11
She is shy. Will that matter?
Not at all. Plenty of girls spend the first session holding a parent's hand at the side. Stay as long as she needs. A coach will come over, say hello and roll her a ball when she is ready, and not before.
What if she is hopeless?
Then she is exactly like the rest of them were. Being new is what the session is designed for.
Can her friend come too?
Yes. Friends who start together tend to stay. Every girl gets her own three free sessions.
Never played? Good. Bring her on Thursday.
Trainers and a coat are fine for the first session. A coach meets you at the pavilion gate, and you can stay and watch for as long as you like. The first three sessions are free.