Ross Juniors girls teams welcomed four players from Birmingham City Ladies’ side on Friday, April 15th. A team from Birmingham City Ladies FC, Coral Haines, Kerys Harrop, Aoife Mannion and Cheryl Edwards, accompanied by their general manager, Kirsty Helland, came to meet the Ross players, and provide some coaching, as a part of their new relationship with the club.

At the beginning of the month, it was announced that the Ross Juniors girls’ teams are now a Sister Club affiliated to Birmingham City Ladies FC.

This means that the girls get two coaching sessions delivered by the players.

Coral Haines told the Gazette that she has done some community work in Solihull borough, teaching local kids. She said the coaching she delivers are technical sessions, such as shooting, defending and attacking. She also puts on some game scenarios, but has small sides play, such as 2x2 and 3x3.

The Birmingham ladies kickstarted their sister club programme in March, and tweeted they were looking for clubs to get involved. Within a few days, they were contacted by the coaches from the Ross Juniors, who were eager to make links.

The Birmingham Ladies knew the Ross Juniors, who have been running since 2004, was a very prestigious club in the area, and that they have won several community awards.

The Birmingham ladies told the Gazette that as the scheme is brand new this season, they will see how it goes before they decide how long they will run it for. This season, the Ross Juniors girls will have access to two coaching sessions, the first which took place on Friday. They also get access to tournaments organised by the Birmingham team, and tickets to games.

This week, the Ross girls have been invited to attend a home game at the Birmingham stadium, where they will act as the lag bearers, player mascots, and they will also take part in a pitch parade, where they will have their photos taken, and they will be given signed merchandise. All if the girls from Ross Juniors have been invited, and so far, 75 have confirmed they will be attending.