The county’s best young female footballers will battle it out for a place at Suffolk FA’s new Player Development Centre on Saturday.

TRIALS will be held at Whitton Sports Centre on Saturday for Suffolk FA’s new Girls’ Player Development Centre.

Nominations are being accepted until midday tomorrow for the centre which has been set up to bridge the gap between grass roots and potential Centre of Excellence Football.

Try-outs for the facility which will provide 20 extra training sessions, on top of what is already provided at their respective clubs and schools,

Players, parents, coaches and teachers can complete their nominations forms until 12pm tommorow and there looks set to be a competitive battle for places with only 20 up for grabs in each of the Under 11, 13 and 15 categories.

Girls’ and Women’s Football Development Officer at Suffolk FA, Sue Wells, said they had already received several nominations.

“So far we have received 20 nominations in the under 13s category and the same number in the under 15s,” said Wells.

“We have received 15 nominations for the under 11s group but we are expecting a number of further entries in to us before midday tomorrow.

“The players chosen for the three age groups will be provided with 20 extra training sessions and will be given a report with details of their development from the centre’s coaches.

“Any potential player will be advised at looking at going to a Centre of Excellence where they can develop further and we are serving to bridge the gap between clubs and grass roots.”

The Under 11s trial times will be held between 10-11.30am with the under 13s and 15s being staged between 11.30-1pm and 12.30pm-1.30pm respectively.

All the trials will be overseen by qualified coaches and new Player Development Centre Manager, Matthew Johnstone.

Johnstone is a former manager of Chesham United Ladies, has coached on Women’s Soccer Camps in the USA and has also researched coaching within the girls’ and women’s game in Norway and Italy.

“We are delighted to announce the appointment of Matthew to head up our team of high quality PDC coaches which we have spent a lot of time putting together to ensure the girls will receive the highest quality coaching within the Centre.

All coaches employed by the Players’ Development Centre are required to have their level 2 coaching badge as well as one module and one youth award.

The under 15s coach is required to have a UEFA ‘B’ licence.