SPAR Scotland hosts SPAR Future Stars finals day

SPAR Scotland hosted the SPAR Future Stars national finals day on 30 March at Broadwood Stadium in Cumbernauld.

Approximately 400 girls aged between 12 and 16 participated on the day, in thirty-six teams from across the two age groups (S1 and S2, and S3 and S4). Braeview Academy won the S1/S2 event, with St Ninian’s High School runner-up, while Holy Cross High School won the S3/S4 competition, with James Gillespie’s High School runner-up.

In partnership with the Scottish FA, SPAR Scotland has been supporting the Scotland Women’s National Team since 2019 and as a result decided to boost girls grassroot football with introduction of the SPAR Future Stars Cup in 2020.

This year, a total of 300 teams from 200 schools from the Scottish Borders right up to Dingwall in the north of Scotland entered the competition and competed in local rounds across the country. The SPAR Future Stars national finals day is a culmination of months of football being played by teams of girls, and the event was run by Scottish FA community coaches.

In attendance on the day were Scotland Women’s National Team head coach Pedro Martinez Losa along with Lauren Davidson, who is currently the Scottish Women’s Premier League top scorer and recently scored her first goal for Scotland.

SPAR Scotland CEO Colin McLean commented: “We have had an excellent day supporting all the girls teams taking part in the 2023 SPAR Future Stars Cup.

“It has been impressive to see their excellent skills played out on the pitch, and even better to have so many schoolgirls take part in the competition. We hope to see one of these girls play for the Scotland Women’s National Team one day.

“Partnering with the Scottish FA has enabled us to deliver a professionally organised tournament and give girls aged 12 to 16 across Scotland the opportunity to compete in a competitive contest. Congratulations to every team who took part since September last year.”

He added: “SPAR Future Stars is an excellent initiative. A healthy lifestyle – eating and keeping fit and encouraging schoolgirls across every community in Scotland to take part in this fun tournament – fits really well with our CSR objectives.”