Spar Scotland hosted its second Spar Future Stars national finals day on 30 March at Broadwood Stadium in Cumbernauld with several teams presented with the associated winning Cup.
In partnership with the Scottish FA, Spar Scotland has been supporting the Scotland Women’s National Team since 2019 and as a result decided to boost girls grassroot football with the introduction of the Spar Scotland Future Stars Cup in 2020.
The geographic spread of the teams participating this year has been significant, with teams taking part from the Scottish Borders right up to Dingwall in the north of Scotland.
The Spar Future Stars finals day is a culmination of months of football being played by teams of girls aged between 12 and 16 in teams of eight in local and regional rounds across Scotland. A total of 300 teams from 200 schools entered into the competition altogether and competed in local rounds across the country.
This year all age ranges were covered at the finals day with the winning teams and runners up receiving medals and Braeview Academy and Holy Cross High School winning the coveted Spar Future Stars Cups. The event was run by Scottish FA community coaches who did a fantastic job recruiting teams and facilitating local and regional rounds.
In attendance on the day were Scotland Women’s National Team (SWNT) head coach Pedro Martinez Losa along with Scottish Women’s Premier League (SWPL) top scorer Lauren Davidson, who recently scored her first goal for Scotland.
Colin McLean, Spar Scotland CEO, said: “We have had an excellent day supporting all the girls teams taking part in the 2023 Spar Future Stars Cup.
“It has been impressive to see their excellent skills played out on the pitch. And even better to have so many schoolgirls take part in the competition. We hope to see one of these girls play for the SWNT one day.
“Partnering with the Scottish FA has enabled us to deliver a professionally organised tournament and give girls aged 12 to 16 across Scotland the opportunity to compete in a competitive contest. Congratulations to every team who took part since September last year.
“Spar Future Stars is an excellent initiative. A healthy lifestyle – eating and keeping fit and encouraging schoolgirls across every community in Scotland to take part in this fun tournament – fits really well with our CSR objectives.”
Spar Scotland supported the event with branding at the stadium. There was a significant increase in teams competing in the tournament this year, with 1,800 girls participating in the event.
Losa said: “Spar Future Stars is a fantastic opportunity to get lots of girls on the pitch and involved in the game.
It gives young aspiring players the opportunity to develop their love of football, to be part of a team and advance their skills.
Hopefully we’ll see some of today’s young players featuring for the Scotland Women’s National Team in years to come.”
Scottish FA head of girls and women’s football Shirley Martin said: “Spar Future Stars is a great opportunity for girls to play in a fun and friendly environment, with their friends, while representing their school. These are the types of positive sporting experiences that the players will remember for years to come and will hopefully foster a love for the game.”
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