Schoolgirl football tournament celebrates its third year
SPAR Scotland has celebrated the future of women’s football in Scotland once again as the symbol’s Future Stars tournament hosted its final match of the season in March.
The Spar Future Stars finals day took place in Broadwood Stadium in Cumbernauld on 27 March and presented the overall winning schools of the tournament with the Spar Future Stars Cup for each respective age group.
Both St Ninians High School and Ross High School took home the trophies for the S1/S2 division and S3/S4 division respectively.
Ran in partnership with the Scottish Football Association (SFA) since 2019, Spar Scotland has given girls’ grassroots football a massive boost within Scotland, with high schools across the entirety of Scotland taking part.
The finals day sees the culmination of months of local and regional tournament games and is aimed at 12 to 16-year-old girls, who are invited to participate in the tournament through their school football teams.
An impressive 226 teams joined in this year’s tournament, marking the highest number yet for the symbol’s football tournament with over 3,000 girls involved throughout.
Colin McLean, chief executive at Spar Scotland, said: “This is the third year we have supported the Spar Future Stars footballing event for schoolgirls, and the tournament is going from strength to strength.
“We cannot believe that 3,000 girls from schools all over the country have taken part in the tournament this year – it’s a significant number.
“This year saw over 20 extra teams participating in the tournament with registrations and sign ups from some local schools starting as soon as last year’s finals day finished.
“It deeply satisfying to help create a platform that allows girls to come together and play in a gun, safe but highly competitive environment.
“We’re already planning for Future Stars 2025 with our objective to encourage even more young girls to get involved and have some fun at a local and national level.”
Shirley Martin, head of girls and women’s football at the SFA, said: “Spar Future Stars is a great opportunity for girls to play in a fun and friendly environment, with their friends, whilst representing their school.
“We are delighted with the growth of this competition with schools from as far away as Ellon and Stranraer making the national finals.
“Having Fiona Brown and Leanne Ross attend from the national team is so important, it shows these girls the pathways that are now available to them in football.”
