Women & Girls

Our Wildcats programme offers a non-competitive introduction to football for girls aged 5-11. The sessions are run in primary schools and at partner grassroots clubs to provide a positive first experience in football through a safe, fun environment. Leeds United Foundation coaches deliver a one hour session each week where the girls learn new football based skills such as coordination, agility, and teamwork. The Wildcats sessions are the base of our female football pathway, with opportunities to progress further for any girls who would like extra training and to take the next step in their football journey.

Impact / Outcome:

The Wildcat’s programme enables girls to discover a talent they possibly didn’t know they had as well as being active and having fun playing sport. For many girls this is the start of their football playing journey. The aim of the programme is to develop fundamental skills, make friends and offer a safe and inclusive environment for girls to play football. The Wildcats programme supports girls to find local grassroots teams to join and progress into a competitive environment to further develop their skills. Players can also access our female pathway with opportunity to progress upwards towards the Academy.

How To book: Please use the contact details below to find out our current locations and schedule.

Contact Details: Email: [email protected] Telephone: 0113 367 6598

Our Skills Foundations Centres find and nurture female talent from a young age within our region, providing a platform for the girls to perform at their very best after receiving first-class coaching and support. One hour training sessions take place each week across several locations.

Sessions are based on individualised coaching, providing the opportunity for female players to improve not only their skills and technique but also confidence, covering all aspects of the game. Weekly sessions work on both the technical and tactical elements of the game. Players can continue to play for their grassroots team whilst training at the Skills Foundations Centres, combining this additional training with their grassroots schedule.

From the Skills Foundations Centres there is an opportunity to progress along the female pathway into the Talent Development Centre.

Sessions take place once a week for 1 hour across various locations across Yorkshire including Pontefract, Scarborough, Halifax, Leeds and Wakefield.

Impact / Outcome

The Skills Foundations Centre programme is designed to discover new female talent within the region at a young age and nurture their development. The sessions offer high quality coaching with the goal of producing the best talent for our Female Pathway. Coaches on the programme often refer girls up to the Shadow Squad who they believe are excelling and show the potential to make it all the way through the pathway.

How To book: Online via our website: https://tickets.leedsunited.com/en-gb/categories/women-girls

Contact Details: Email: [email protected] Telephone number : 0113 367 6598

Our Girls Talent Development Centre is an invitation only programme, accessed through a trial process. The programme is for players who show potential of accessing the Girls Academy. As this is solely a training programme, girls can continue to play for their grassroots clubs and play competitive football in grassroots settings. The Talent Development Centre focuses on the individual player, working to improve their technical ability to push them into the Academy. There is a strong emphasis on positional roles and responsibilities, with training focusing on the tactical elements of the game. Training at the Centre follows a specific blueprint which has been developed for this programme alone.

The Talent Development Centre is a weekly training session that runs on Friday evenings 5pm-9pm. Currently the programme hosts 8 age groups - U10s to U17s.

Impact / Outcome

The Talent Development Centre formally known as the Shadow Squad has been extremely successful thus far in providing the Academy with girls of high quality across various age groups. 68% of girls accepted into the Academy came from the Talent Development Centre programme in the 2021/22 trials.

How To book: Girls are referred and offered a trial through our Skills Foundations Centres and Wildcats programmes. For more information on these programmes and how to book please see the website - https://tickets.leedsunited.com/en-gb/categories/women-girls

Contact Details: Email: [email protected] Telephone: 0113 367 6598

Our Girls Academy (RTC) is the pinnacle of girl’s football at the Leeds United Foundation. We have 73 elite players in the Academy across four age groups- U12s, U13s, U14s and U16s. The Academy has tier 1+ status, which has only been achieved by four centres across the country. Our aim is to be one of the country’s strongest elite systems for talented female players, producing players that will play in the Women’s Super League and for England.

Our girls are provided with excellent training facilities, including the use of Leeds Beckett University’s brand-new sports facility, Strength and Conditioning, Nutrition and Psychological support in addition to technical and analytical training sessions to maximise their performance.

The girls play in various leagues starting with the Junior Premier League for the U12s where the girls compete in fixtures against boys who are on the fringes of, or are in, academies. The U13s compete in a boy’s Grassroots League and the U14 and U16 travel to play against other RTCs across the country, such as Manchester United, Liverpool, Sheffield and Blackburn, in the FA England Talent Pathway League.

Impact / Outcome

Our Girls Academy produces top quality players that are not only technically talented but also well-rounded individuals when they progress from the RTC. We have seen many success stories with players representing England and teams across the Women’s Championship and Women’s National League. Our girls also have the option to stay within the pathway through our Post 16 Academy College Programme where the opportunity to combine studies and football is available, continuing the infrastructure and support of the RTC beyond the U16 age group.

How To book: Girls are referred and offered a trial through our Skills Foundation Centres (Development Centres) and Talent Development Centre (Shadow Squad). For more information on these programmes please visit https://tickets.leedsunited.com/en-gb/categories/women-girls

Contact Details: Email: [email protected] Telephone: 0113 367 6598

We offer a full-time Education Programme in partnership with Leeds City College for female players who aspire to play at a high level, whilst also committing to an academic programme of study. Players can study A Level or BTEC courses when committing to our Education Programme. The programme is based at Leeds City College for your education studies and the football provision is based at West Riding County FA for training and match days.

The course includes:

• Performance reviews.

• Full holistic training programme 3 x per week.

• College Fixture programme

• Strength and Conditioning support

• LUFC Foundation coaching (UEFA B/A).

• Full Leeds United training and playing kit provided.

• Collected to and from college and taken to training.

Impact / Outcome

The aim of the female academy programme is to help provide a clear pathway for players who progress from Academies (RTC) programmes or females who are looking to combine their studies with full time football provision. It enables the women and girls pathway to be extended beyond our Girls Academy (RTC) to combine both programmes in creating a holistic dual career programme which supports female football development. Creating a professional infrastructure which aids player progression and enables them to study their preferred education choice either A Level provision or BTEC.

How To book: Sign up via this link: https://forms.office.com/r/tt675HGXfq

Contact details Email: [email protected] Telephone: 0113 367 6598