A GWENT club which has been a beacon for ladies’ football in recent years is showing no signs of slowing down in its attempts to get more girls and women into the game.

Treowen Stars Girls’ Football Club runs nine age-grade teams from under-seven to under-15 level, with plans to form a senior side in the pipeline.

Among more than 100 members, the club are proud to have nine players attending the Gwent Performance Centre, while Menna Beaman and Holly Hughes are also in the Welsh Regional and Pathway squads.

The Stars’ development has grown at incredible rate since Andrew Barham was able to run the girls’ section independently of the senior club.

And not only do the Stars enjoy great relationships with local schools – 12 are represented within the set-up – they are also a sister club for Women’s Super League outfit Yeovil Town.

On top of that, this Wednesday will see the youngsters being joined at training in Pontllanfraith by the current Wales Women’s Under-19 squad.

Speaking about the growth of the club since getting on board, secretary Barham said: “When I went there about three years ago the girls had about 10 players – now there are more than 100.

“Girls’ football is the fastest growing sport in the world at the moment and we’re just trying to get to the next level.

“There are girls in the county who don’t know there are football teams out there they can join, so we want to reach out more and get them involved.

“We have had girls come in who have been bullied in school and totally lacked confidence but made lots of friends at the club and really changed, and their school work has improved as a result.

“We’ve also had support from the council with money to set-up free training sessions that went down really well and attracted lots of players.

“Overall we’re becoming a family club where the parents are enjoying it as much as the children.”

He added: “The next thing we’re going to look at is whether we can start a ladies’ team.

“We’ll look to hold a training session and then put the feelers out from there.”

All of the club’s coaches are DBS-checked and attend the various FAW coach education courses, with Terry Fitzpatrick currently working towards his UEFA B licence.

Saturday mornings also see Wales Under-19 and Swansea City stopper Courtney Young run separate goalkeeping coaching sessions.

Commenting on the club’s link up with the national under-19 squad this week, Barham said: “I was contacted by the Wales Under-19 assistant manager who wanted to know if they could come and get involved in one of our training sessions.

“I’ve been involved in conversations with the national set-up before and they must have looked at clubs in the area and chosen us.

“We already have Courtney coming on Saturday mornings which is fantastic for the club.”

Barham says the Stars want to add another 30 players to their ranks for the new season, with free kit provided to those who join up.

To get involved, email treowenstarsgirls@gmail.com or call Mr Barham on 07788972273.

You can also follow the club on Facebook.