Days after captaining England at the UEFA Under 17s Championship, Maya Le Tissier will be back in Guernsey next week to inspire the next generation of players.

Maya, 17, will make a return to the Girls Player Development Centre run by the GFA to meet the current attendees who are aged from five to 11. She will help Guernsey FA women & girls football development officer Joelle Pengelley to referee a tournament and talk to the girls about her passion for the sport and her journey from playing in Guernsey through to being signed for Brighton & Hove Albion and representing and captaining England.

The visit has been facilitated by Ravenscroft which sponsors the Girls Player Development Centre through the Football for Everyone initiative and has also supported Maya for the last three years.

‘It’s brilliant to hear how successful the Girls Player Development Centre is in encouraging girls to have the confidence to play football and giving them the skills to challenge for places on school and club teams. Girls football is growing in popularity and I hope that lots more Guernsey girls have the same opportunities and experiences that I have had,’ she said.
‘Ravenscroft’s support of football is playing a big part in the future of football in Guernsey and I am also very grateful to them for their ongoing support in allowing me to realise my dreams.’
Demand from players meant that an extra session was added to the Girls Players Development Centre which now runs on Mondays at St Sampson’s High School and on Wednesdays at Styx.

‘The girls are really excited to meet Maya and hear more about what it is like to be a footballer representing England. I’m sure she will inspire some of them to follow in her footsteps and we want to thank Ravenscroft for their help in making this happen.’