News Coaching session with former England and Arsenal star, Rachel Yankey OBE 25.04.2024

There was star quality on the football pitch at this week’s training session as we were joined by former England Lioness and Arsenal player, Rachel Yankey, who gained 129 caps playing for the national team and was part of the 2012 GB Olympics squad.

Rachel, who was a winger and forward, joined the coaching session to put the girls through their paces with some attacking and shooting drills. The session was organised after Football Captain Arielle submitted the winning entry in the UEFA WePlayStrong Women’s World Cup competition, in partnership with Visa. The campaign is aimed at empowering young girls through football and raising awareness of the women’s game.

After the training session Rachel took part in a lively Q&A session and the girls quizzed her on her footballing journey, how players come back from injury, and who inspired Rachel along the way. They also asked which team she thought would win this year’s Women’s Super League (Manchester City) and the Premier League (Arsenal of course!).

Rachel was really impressed with the girls’ skills and enthusiasm, saying ‘It’s been a pleasure to visit the UEFA WePlayStrong and Visa competition winners, Godolphin and Latymer School today. The passion and talent I’ve seen from these young players has been fantastic. It’s great to see girls’ schools leading the way in encouraging young women to take up football and nurturing the next generation of players. I’m really excited to see them grow and make their mark on the sport. The future of women’s football looks bright!’.

Arielle, Godolphin and Latymer Football Captain said, ‘The training session was a fantastic opportunity for the team to learn from someone who’s been at the top of the women’s game and for us to show-off and improve our skills. Rachel was a real inspiration, and this was an absolute highlight of our season.’

The Godolphin girls look forward to putting their skills into practice and in the meantime are wishing the England Lionesses the best of luck in their UEFA Women’s Euro 2024 qualifier against France at the end of May.