Sport

Haringey Girls Academy wins big in 2022

20 June 2022
3 Min Read

The borough’s elite girls football academy is holding its own against some of the biggest teams in the country
By Olivia Opara

Photo courtesy of Haringey Girls Academy
Photo courtesy of Haringey Girls Academy

Haringey Girls Academy, which provides football training for girls under 16 in the borough, is celebrating a successful ongoing season

In 2022 alone, the academy has won multiple accolades. The Haringey Girls Academy’s U14 team were recently crowned champions of the Capital Girls League 2022 Division 1 (D1) season. This success follows the U14 Junior Premier League (JPL) team being named National League Winners (beating Crystal Palace and London City Lionesses in the finals in May) and the U14 team winning the Middlesex Cup.

The Capital Girls League is the largest girls football league in Greater London, launched as a joint venture between Middlesex FA, London FA & Amateur FA to support and nurture the growth of girls and womens’ football.  

Additional wins this year includes: the U15 Brentwood League team winning the U16 Rayleigh Tournament and the U16 team winning the Middlesex County Cup, the London County Cup, the JPL Cup and the JPL National League.

Started in 2016, after a merge with both Hinton and Finchley (HFR) and Haringey Girls Schools, Haringey Girls Academy offers football training for under 16s in Haringey. Based at Powerleague Barnet and training at Alexandra Park School, the academy now acts as an avenue into football for girls regardless of barriers they face such as economic background or social background. 

“Winning the National League is the biggest achievement,” said Emily Pickard, a player at  Haringey Girls Academy. “We have beaten all the big name teams who think they can win just because they have a fancy badge name, but they realise when they come to Haringey, that we are a force to be reckoned with.”

Coach and club director Adem Ali said: “As a coach, seeing the girls grow and develop has been an amazing experience and this has culminated in the girls winning the National Premier League, inviting the best sides from across the country.”

“Having both an U14s team and an U16s team win the National League speaks volumes about the talent and ability in Haringey, when you see who has finished below Haringey; the likes of Spurs, West Ham, Watford, Millwall, Bournemouth and Crystal Palace.”

“Women and Girls sports is on such an upgrade and our girls are paving the way for young girls in Haringey,” Adem added. “All of our girls volunteer within local communities helping the younger girls with coaching and helping wherever they can with educational settings.”

Haringey Girls Academy holds open trials every year for all girls in Haringey to join the academy. It also offers free community sessions in Tottenham at the Fred Knight Sports Ground every Saturday morning for ages 5-13 with a fully qualified coach. 

Haringey Girls Academy will be playing in the All Counties Everywhere Shield (ACES) Nationals, over four weekends in June/July. Representing North London, the academy will be playing against all the big sides from around the country such as; Southampton, Portsmouth, Bradford, Stoke, Preston and Swansea. It will be the only ‘borough’ that is involved as the rest will be city teams. 

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