To celebrate the Women’s World Cup, the Football Association of Wales Trust (FAW Trust) are putting on FAW Trust Football Festivals across Wales this month to provide girls and their families the opportunity to try football.

St Florence Village and Sports Ground will pay host to one such event on Sunday (July 14) between 2 and 4 pm.

Each festival will have clubs and partners attending who will be putting on different stations with fun games, challenges and freebies to take home. There will also be some guest appearances from National players.

Although Wales missed out on a place in the Women’s World Cup, it provides the FAW Trust with an ideal platform to encourage girls in Wales in give the beautiful game a go.

Having just secured a record-breaking win against New Zealand in an International Friendly, Wales will be setting their hopes on qualifying for the Euro 2021 throughout their next campaign which kicks off away to the Faroe Islands on 29 August.

The FAW Trust has set a target of 20,000 females playing football in Wales by 2024; at present there are 6,020 girls registered playing football in clubs across Wales.

Research suggests that girls typically have less confidence than their male counterparts, thus decreasing the chances of them joining a traditional sports club, which is why the FAW Trust are doing more to engage new audiences in varied formats to capture people’s interests.

Amongst women not playing football, the primary barrier to participation is not having had the opportunity to play at school. This highlights the need to increase participation amongst girls at an early age.

Caroline Spanton, Head of Football Development for the FAW Trust, said: “‘There is a real and genuine excitement around girls and women’s football right now with the biggest Women’s World Cup taking place, we have to capitalise on the profile of this and help generate new audiences to engage in this fantastic and inclusive game.

“These smaller campaigns and free events are a key element of grassroots football, girls want the opportunity to try football, which is something they may not get to do at school.”

To find out where your nearest festival is, go to http://bit.ly/FAWTrustFootballFestivals.