BARROW AFC are making more big strides in their development of girls football at Holker Street.

A new under-11s team has joined the ranks of the club's performance centre – making for four girls teams overall, to go with six in the boys section.

The under-11s are made up of girls who successfully came through summer trials, with their first public appearance coming at Holker Street as guards of honour for Barrow AFC and Maidstone United in their recent National League match.

AFC Performance Centre head Tony Callister is pleased to see more girls joining up and becoming part of the club, with plans in place for further teams in the future.

“We're looking at back-filling each season, so that the girls' centre will mirror the boys' centre,” he said. “For that to happen, once each team moves up, we always have to start back at the under-11s, so we have that flow.

“We'll have under-11s, under-12s, under-13s and under-15s side this season. There was nothing there a few years ago, and now we have four teams.

“I see it as a huge development for the area, and a huge opportunity for girls to be able to progress into a structured development centre.”

The newest team will start playing matches later in the year, after getting to know each other through regular training sessions.

“They're not in a league, so they will start off with friendlies and play against some local teams first,” added Callister. “Then we will play some around the Westmorland area, before we go into Central Lancashire.

“It's a slow build-up. We need to get them training together for a little while and get them to know each other. It's being done in a steady process.

“They've started their training with Dave Tomasko, who has been involved with Barrow Celtic.”