Ten girls from different parts of the province make up the new Villarreal Women U10s, which competes in the boys’ league
Villarreal U10s girls side now exists. After last season’s successes with the first team staying in the F League and the promotion of the Women’s D team, the club’s structure continues to grow in giant steps.
One of those steps is the splitting of the U10 and U12s (Benjamín-Alevín) team, to give the youngest players a more personalised training. “It is a newly created team. After seeing the good results of starting the U12s, we wanted to continue with the line of work and back the U10 age group,” says the coach of this new team, Ricardo García.
Once the decision had been taken to split the two age groups, it was time to look for players to join the new project. As García explains, “the recruitment process began in May and lasted throughout the summer, as it is not easy to form a girls’ team in grassroots football. But, thanks to the work of Patri Traver and Laura Cuesta (Villarreal Women coordinators) we managed to form one.”
And as in any Yellows Academy team, there is talent from the province, but one of the most interesting facts about this girls U10s team is that all the players are from Castellón. “Girls from different parts of the province came to the recruitment process. In fact, there are three players who come from Morella, Benicarló and Les Coves,” adds the coach.
Adapting to men’s football
Like their U12s (Alevín) and U14s (Infantil) teams, the Yellows’ youngest players will also play in the boys’ league, competing as “Benjamín F”. “At this age group they have a greater capacity to adapt and the sooner they do so, the better,” says the Villarreal coach, who also stresses that “the players are looking forward to training and playing with great enthusiasm and excitement.
In addition to the great challenge ahead of them, all the girls will have to adapt to a new group, as they have never shared a dressing room before. “The younger they are, the more they adapt. At the second training session, it was as if they had known each other before. The good thing is that, being a small group, as there are ten of us, it helps to make it easier,” explains García.
And while they are training, “The philosophy they are taught is the same as any other player in the club. That both in sporting and personal matters they should be polite and respect their teammates, parents and sports equipment”.
Marta Querol: A key member of the coaching staff
If the girls were already excited to wear the yellow jersey, they were even more excited when Marta Querol joined the coaching staff, a player who plays for the Women’s B team, but regularly trains with Sara Monforte’s team.
“That helps the players to have a point of reference within the club. With hard work and perseverance, they can be the ones in that position in the future,” says her colleague on the coaching staff.
In fact, the youngest players, who used to attend the first-team matches at the Mini Estadi as spectators, now also cheer on the women’s B team thanks to the presence of adds coach on the pitch: “The girls always ask about her and if they know she is playing at the Training Ground they want to go and watch her play and support her. They also go to see the first team and get to know the players who make up the team,” confesses García.
The young player from Morella is making her debut on the bench this year and she is just as excited about it as the girls she coaches: “It’s something very special. It makes me very excited to see that I started like them and to know that, by working hard, they can get anywhere they want. They look forward to coming to watch my games and I’m very grateful to see how they treat me.”
“Women’s football in general is growing more and more. Villarreal are doing a good job and now it is reflected in the fact that girls from the youth system are making their debuts with the first team,” added Querol.
The Girls U10s are a close-knit group, despite the fact that the players have only known each other for a few months, but they fight together on the pitch to achieve the dream that Querol has already fulfilled: to one day make her debut for Villarreal Women.
