Ahead of Charlton Women’s derby match against Crystal Palace on Sunday, first team players Jenna Legg and Grace Coombs have been visiting local schools to promote the Women’s game.
This week they visited Kings Oak Wood, an all-boys establishment where they were involved in a Q&A session before playing a game of football with the students. The pair spoke about the importance of visiting local schools in the community with Legg explaining her eagerness in getting the students involved in the sport.
“We came down to meet the kids, our goal is to raise awareness about what we’re doing. We talked about what life is like as a footballer and we really just wanted to encourage the boys here to get into football.”
Having previously visited all girls’ schools and mixed gender primary schools, this was the first time that the players have visited both a secondary and an all-boys school. Coombs enjoyed the experience citing how engaged the students were in the Q&A session.
“It’s good. I’ve never done it at an all-boys secondary school. It’s very engaging. They asked some good questions; we played a game and we were all involved. It’s great to see all the boys want to get involved and talk to us about women’s football.” They said.
Focus begins to turn to this Sunday's fixture against Crystal Palace who currently sit 3 points above the Addicks in eighth place. A win against the Eagles would see Charlton leapfrog them in the table on goal difference and Legg insists the team are freshly prepared for the task at hand.
“We had a good weekend off. Everyone has come in well rested. We’re really excited. These are games that we want to be involved in, a derby and a huge game for both teams. We want to get the points and push on this season.
“But, we were gutted when the Blackburn game got cancelled. We want to build momentum and push on for the end of the year. We need to start by getting three points on the weekend.”
Following the weekend’s match up, Charlton Women will play host to London Bees at The Valley on Sunday 22nd March, with tickets available here.
However, Coombs explains that the team are not looking past the weekend and remain focused on the task at hand.
“We’ve got to take it game by game. After this Sunday the game at The Valley will settle in. We don’t want to make it too much of a spectacle and let pressure get in. We want to get a good result at the weekend and take a bit of pressure off us so we can enjoy the game at The Valley and relax.
“We love playing at a big ground like that but it’s one game at a time at the minute.”
Tickets for the Addicks game against Crystal Palace, at The Oakwood this Sunday, can be purchased here
[Article by Nick Emms]