A NEW girls’ football squad has had a flying start to their season, despite only playing together for a few months.

St Nick’s under-tens team was set up in August and is made up of girls aged between eight and ten from the Yate and Chipping Sodbury areas.

The ten-strong squad, come rain or shine, train every Thursday at the Ridings football field.

Head coach Sian Rollins said: “We are a fairly new team and the girls come from different schools in the area, so most didn’t know each other before they started training together. We currently play friendly matches with teams from across South Gloucestershire, so that the players can build their confidence and put the skills they learn in training to good use.

“All of the coaches have been so impressed by the hard work and dedication that all the girls demonstrate on the pitch.

“And we are equally impressed by the strong supportive friendships that are also flourishing off the pitch.”

Evie Timbrell, who is in Year Four at Old Sodbury Primary School, said: “Football isn’t just for boys and playing with St Nick’s is brilliant.

“We all really look forward to playing our matches and meeting up at training each week.

“I’ve made lots of new friends and it’s lots of fun.”

St Nick’s has a number of girls teams, ranging from the development squad, which accepts players from the age of five, right through to the ladies’ team, who are in division one of the FA women’s premier league in the South West.

To find out more about the new side, look on www.Stnicksfc.co.uk