**An under-18s girls’ team representing The Albion Foundation went on to win the Premier League Kicks Christmas Truce Tournament in Ypres, Belgium.**
The side were invited to play as part of the Premier League’s commitment to creating more opportunities for girls and young women to play football.
Albion went unbeaten throughout the whole tournament, playing against three other Kicks teams in Chelsea, Southampton and Swansea, with all four teams given an invitation to celebrate their respective involvements in the Premier League’s longest running community programme.
But it wasn’t just the tournament win that impressed Eleisha Edwards and Aaliyah Browne, Foundation coaches who work with these participants on a weekly basis – it was their attitudes.
“It was brilliant, the whole weekend was,” Edwards said. “The kids had an unforgettable experience.
“They were exposed to things they’ve never seen before, they got to experience a lot of history of Ypres too. We got to learn about the history of women’s football too.
“One of the highlights of the trip was how they engaged and socialised with people from different communities. The fact they won was secondary, instead it was their attitudes that were the highlights of the trip, it as a great weekend.
“Winning was amazing, because they’d never won a match before, but they came out unbeaten and it was a great feeling.”
“It felt really good to win,” Browne said. “We played some really good teams in Southampton, Swansea and Chelsea, they brought some great teams over and it was very competitive.
“It was great to win the tournament, it showed the solidarity of the team and it showcased the opportunity for women, it was really good.
“We’re really proud of the girls too.”
Teams also visited the monument commemorating the Christmas Truce, the site where it is alleged soldiers came out of the trenches to play football in no-man’s land, draping scarves and laying footballs in their club colours in a mark of respect.
At the Menin Gate ceremony, following the sounding of the Last Post, the girls laid a wreath on behalf of The Albion Foundation, while Priya, a participant from Saints Foundation, read a poem for the fallen, on behalf of all participants.
The tournament demonstrated the progression of the girls that took part, particularly the team’s captain, Ada, who lifted the trophy at the end of the tournament.
“Ada was referred to me as part of the Premier League Inspires programme in year nine,” Edwards said. “She’s so bright and intelligent and has a fantastic attitude.
“She really lacked confidence when I met her, she did her Inspires programme with me. She themn got referred to Aaliyah to take part in Change Makers, which is a leadership programme for girls.
“She really came into her own in that programme. Before long she came along to Premier League Kicks, and has played there for a few years now, she’s now been volunteering with the Behaviour Change department alongside our Post-16 programme.”
Congratulations, girls, we’re incredibly proud of your achievement.