Smith leads coaching session at Queens' School (From Watford Observer)

England international Kelly Smith lends a hand to Queens' School ahead of npower Football League Girls Cup

9:20am Friday 3rd February 2012 in Sport By Matt Bass

England international Kelly Smith took time out from her schedule to spend the morning at Queens’ School, Bushey, holding a coaching session for the school’s Under-13s girls football team.

The veteran of over 100 caps led a 40-minute session with the six-a-side squad as they prepare for the south regional finals of the npower Football League Under-13 Girls Cup.

Queens’ School are set to represent Watford against schools from Aldershot, Gillingham and Cardiff, with all of the teams playing each other in Reading for the right to advance to the final.

The incentive for victory is great, with the winner from the north and south competitions set to battle it out for glory at Wembley ahead of the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy final on Sunday, March 25.

And the Watford-born player was full of praise for the girls as they look forward to next week’s competition.

“There are some good little players out there,” enthused Smith.

“Obviously it is only a six-a-side tournament so the numbers are quite small but just doing some technical work with them, you can see they are quite competent on the ball and understand the game.

She continued: “It is a great opportunity to get to the finals and then hopefully play at Wembley.

“It is a dream come true for some of them, certainly at that age it is something I would have been aspiring to do if the opportunity was there to play at Wembley.”

Queens’ School’s Head of Girl’s Football, Sarah Steadman, added: “They have done so well. There were only a couple of strong football girls in my whole Under-13 side, not just this six-a-side team.

“But the development from September until now has been massive, and that is because they want to please each other, they want to please me and they enjoy the sport. That is why they come out every Tuesday and do training.”

The team’s coach was also thankful that Smith had been able to help out with the coaching session.

“It is amazing. If you are going to have any female football player, what a player to get down.

“She is a massive legend and a great role model for the kids. We are really pleased that she managed to come along.”

Kelly Smith was training with Queens’ School as part of the npower Football League Girls Cup, a national competition for under 13 girls culminating at Wembley Stadium on 25th March 2012.