Scarborough Ladies U18s coach Owen Willis delighted by growth of women’s football

With the most recent government announcement providing some positive news with grassroots football due to return from March 29, Willis is hopeful that this ‘stop-start’ season will continue soon.

He said: “It’s been a really frustrating season and it’s been hard with how much we’ve had to stop and start throughout.

“We have sides through from Under-11s to Under-18s and they’ve managed to get a good bit of the season in but we’d just love for them to be playing regularly.”

Willis, who is also the club chairman, and his fellow coaches have made sure that they’ve kept in touch with players, ensuring that they keep fit and healthy.

He added:“Each manager is responsible for keeping in touch with their players and with kids stuck at home at the minute it’s important that we keep them active.

“All our plans are on ice at the moment because we will have to wait for the Scarborough Sports Village to open back up before we can start properly planning our return.

“We might look for somewhere else to play if we hear any new information but some of the leagues have been brilliant with communicating with us and it definitely gives me hope.”

Over 1.12 billion people watched the 2019 Women’s World Cup and Willis has seen participation numbers double over the last two years.

He added: “I think we’ve got about 120 girls signed on and hopefully the numbers will continue to grow.

“We’re always looking to improve the talent we have on offer and our aim is to always encourage and develop girls and ensure that they are having fun.

“Lauren (Corner) has been with us for many years and she’s going to be taking over the younger age group training and we are delighted to have her as part of the SLFC team.”