Aspiring footballers from across Scotland battled against each other in tough conditions to secure the coveted SPAR Future Stars trophy at this year’s finals day.
The showcase event, hosted by SPAR Scotland, is in its third year and hundreds of young girls took part once again as the competition reached its climax at Broadwood Stadium near Cumbernauld.
Local and regional rounds saw more than 3,000 young girls aged 12-16 take part across the year. More than 300 teams entered this year’s competition, this was whittled down to 36 teams from schools around Scotland who were represented at the Finals Day in March.
This year’s winners were as follows:
S1/2: Winners – St Ninians High School
Runner-up – Braidhurst Academy
S3/4: Winners – Ross High School
Runner-up – Ellon Academy
You can register for this year’s competition here.
Scottish FA Head of Girls and Women’s Football Shirley Martin: ‘SPAR Future Stars is a great opportunity for girls to play in a fun and friendly environment with their friends while representing their school.
“We are delighted with the growth of this competition with schools from as far away as Ellon and Stranraer making the national finals. Having representation from the Scotland Women’s National team with winger, Fiona Brown and Assistant Head Coach, Leanne Ross in attendance is so important - it shows these young girls’ the pathways that are now available to them in football.”
Colin McLean, CEO of SPAR Scotland, said: “This is the third year we have supported the SPAR Future Stars footballing event for schoolgirls, and the tournament is going from strength to strength. We cannot believe that 3,000 girls from schools all over the country have taken part in the tournament this year – it’s a significant number.
“This year saw over 20 extra teams participating in the tournament with registrations and sign ups from some local schools starting almost as soon as last year’s finals day finished. It’s deeply satisfying to help create a platform that allows girls to come together and play in a fun, safe but highly competitive environment.
“We’re already planning for Future Stars 2025 with our objective to encourage even more young girls to get involved and have some fun at a local and national level.”
Scotland Assistant Head Coach, Leanne Ross: "Events like this are so important as it provides opportunities for young girls to get involved in competitions and go up against each other.
“The more we can expose young players to high-level competition and play best against best, it gives them to opportunity to grow and develop. Ultimately, this means the talent pool will get bigger and that’s exactly what we want.
“We want as many young girls as possible to reach their full potential and programmes like this go a long towards helping to do that.”