Three Shrewsbury Town players hosted a training session on the Greenhous Meadow pitch with Kinder + Sport Girls Cup holders Thomas Telford School.
The Shropshire-based school, who will be representing the Shrews, will defend their trophy on Sunday at Wembley prior to the Checkatrade Trophy Final.Kaiman Anderson, Shaun Rowley and Ryan Barnett – all former pupils – held the training session and gave the youngsters some words of advice before their match against Gordano Secondary, who are representing Bristol City.
The Kinder + Sport Girls Cup is a six-a-side competition for U13 girls teams. The road to Sunday’s final began when each of the 72 EFL clubs set up a local competition for all schools wishing to participate.
Each winning school of the local competition then represented their club in the North or South Area Finals, in a bid to reach the Regional Finals. Thomas Telford won the Northern section, whilst Gordano Secondary were victorious in the Southern section.
The competition has gained national attention once again, with thousands of girls taking part this season for the chance to walk out at Wembley.
Not only did the girls team learn a few tips from the Shrews players, they also received a pep talk from the club’s manager, Paul Hurst.
Hurst and the school enjoyed a very similar experience in 2016 – winning at the national stadium.
Thomas Telford won 1-0 against Bottisham Village College (Cambridge United) and one month later, Hurst guided Grimsby Town back to EFL with victory in the National League Play-Off Final.
“The girls have worked hard to get to Wembley,” the Shrews boss said. “They are looking to retain their trophy and it will be a fantastic weekend for them
“I gave them a team talk before their training session. I told them to just try not to be too nervous about it, get to bed early and get some sleep. I’m sure there will be lots of excitement flying around so they need to enjoy it and try to remember as much as possible.”
Good luck to both Thomas Telford and Gordano Secondary this weekend.
Click here to find out more about Kinder + Sport Girls Cup