As a club it is important to us to increase gender diversity among our players and coaches.

In 2019, Acton Ealing Whistlers Football Club gained approval to become a FA Wildcats provider and since then we’ve been building the range of opportunities for girls to play football with us.

Our Weetabix Wildcats Programme offers organised sessions in a fun and engaging environment and aims to inspire girls to play football, meet new friends, develop skills, and create the foundation for a lifelong love of football. The sessions are aimed at girls aged 5-11 of all playing abilities. We’ve had around 50 girls join us since 2019. Our Wildcats feature on the EnglandFootball website, have made appearances on the England Lionesses’ media channels and were player mascots at the Women's Euros in 2022!

We’ve had a great response to our Wildcats programme and have been able to extend our offering from training only to participation in the Capital Girls League. In 2020 we established an Under 11 Girls’ Team. We now have four teams participating in this League - Under 8, Under 9 and Under-12 Girls’ teams and we’re continuing to build additional teams to play in this league in 2023.

In 2021 we gained approval to contribute to The FA’s Unite pilot (now Squad), a programme aimed at increasing teenage girls’ participation in football. From July 2021 we will offer opportunities for girls aged 12-14 to play football with us in a girls’ only environment.

We also support the London FA’s 100FC programme, which aims to develop 100 female coaches by 2022, by offering coaching placements within the club so that new coaches can apply their learning on the pitch. We’ve already supported 3 female coaches on this programme and have supported a further 6 females to get involved in football outside of this scheme. Read about one of our coaches’ journey here.

We’re keen to continue to build on these successes! We want to get even more females involved in football through playing and coaching, but also through refereeing or supporting the running of the club.

Please take a look at the rest of our girls’ football area and our Volunteering pages. Get in touch if you’re interested in finding out more! Contact: girlsfootball@aewfc.org.uk

Please also keep in touch with our social media:
On Facebook: Whistlers Weetabix Wildcats Girls’ Football
On Twitter: @AEW_Wildcats
On LinkedIn: Acton Ealing Whistlers Youth Football Club
On Instagram: @actonealingwhistlersfc