GIRLS football in Furness is booming as more and more youngsters get a kick out of the Beautiful Game.

The rise in participation numbers is certainly evident at the Barrow AFC Community Sports Only Girls Allowed coaching sessions.

Held every Monday night at Furness College's spacious indoor sportshall, the free sessions are attracting large numbers of five to 11-year-olds keen to improve their soccer skills.

Under the guidance of experienced coaches, kids from school Years 1 to 6 are put through their paces, learning the basics of the game and taking part in small-sided matches to help them develop as players and give them the confidence to get involved in competitive football.

Barrow AFC Community Sports activity manager Marc McAloone is delighted with the response to the sessions, and believes the fact they are free certainly helps boost attendance numbers.

He explained: "The good thing it about being free is that some parents don't really want to pay until they know if their son or daughter is keen on doing something. So with these sessions being free it takes away a massive barrier for us.

"What we are trying to do is increase participation in girls football, and it is working well at the moment.

"It's basic but fun at the same time. We are trying to encourage the girls to reach their full potential, but to do it in an environment where mistakes don't matter.

"It is just about them coming down, getting the ball down and trying to challenge themselves and get better.

"We want them to get better at mastering the ball and working together as a team and also learning the fundamentals of football. That's what we focus on.

"We play a lot of small-sided matches where the girls can start to put into practice what they are learning in matches, where it really needs to happen.

"They play against different players with different conditions that link into the sessions that have been delivered.

"For instance it might be passing and we'll give them an extra point if they can make five passes before they score.

"Or it might be the case that if you can dribble round someone before you score you get an extra point. It's about putting different conditions in the rules of the games that encourage them to practise the things they have been learning in a session."

The goal is to provide a pathway for girls to start playing competitively for the AFC Girls Performance Centre teams – they have under-11s, under-13s under-14s sides with a trial for under-12s being held next weekend – or one of the local teams such as Barrow Celtic or Dalton.

Said McAloone: "What we want to do is start offering exit routes for the girls who don't play for clubs, so not only are they coming to our free sessions, they can find a team to feed into."

With Christmas fast approaching, next Monday's Only Girls Allowed session will be the last one of the year (held between 6pm and 7pm), but the camps will return in the New Year and might be increased to twice a week if demand continues to grow.

For more information, or to sign your child up for a session, call the Barrow AFC Community Sports team on 01229 666011.