Quote Originally Posted by binman View Post
There was a team with 4 girls in it at U15 level a few years ago in my boys league.

We had to tell the boys to go easy and to respect the girls. The girls were playing at a very high standard and were apparently representing districts and 2 had played for Wales at some level - their parents told us.

We played the attackers in defence and defenders up front - we also put the goalkeeper up front

The referee also warned our kids not to go in rough as he would give fouls for any physicality - he also blew up early when it got to 15 nil.

The girls parents thanked us at the end for our boys not giving any verbal crap to the girls on the pitch as apparently some of the teams kids had been 'rude' to the girls on the pitch.

I hated it and so did the boys - it was a farce.

I have sponsored girls teams and have watched/supported local girls teams over the years and I continue to do so

The standard is at best awful but it is good for girls to have competitive sport.

I would not watch it on TV as I find it tedious - I find people who say it should be be equal to mens/boys football don't actually watch it but say it to appear 'right on'
this is where is needs to change right at the bottom at grassroots level, If a boy and girl start playing the game at U7 and have the same level of coaching the difference will not be so massive when they hit U15 , yes the boys will be slightly quicker, and have more of the physical presence, but the skill set will be very similar

I could counter your story by one i have seen this season, a U12 girls team from near swindon would give many U12 boys team a game, the coach is a Dev coach from swindon town ( and a nice bloke ) and he has coached this girls team for over 5 years now, they are a very good team

but of course this is a one-off, i accept that, but as i said before, the 2 games are not comparable, one is very much in its infancy