The U14 Girls have ended runners-up in their group in a division made up of male teams
The U14 girls (Infantil Femenino), who have competed this season in a boys’ league under the name of Villarreal CF C, had an arduous challenge ahead of them. A challenge that they passed with flying colours by finishing runners-up in Group IV of the 2ª Infantil de Castellón.
The players coached by Jordi Ferriols have only dropped 17 points out of the 78 that were at stake, which translates into a balance of 20 wins, 1 draw and only 5 defeats. The team has also scored a total of 111 goals (an average of 4.27 per game) and conceded 33 goals (1.27 per game). Undoubtedly, very striking numbers, and even more so playing in a league made up of boys’ teams, but they are a reflection of the hard work they put in every day.
“We don’t focus on who we are playing against, but rather on making our players better.” Ferriols assures us. In addition, he emphasises the yellow team’s methodology: “We look for players who are intelligent and who know how to adapt to the different contexts that may occur in a match. I can proudly say that we can talk to them about very specific concepts such as that in every match there are mini-matches or that isolated actions occur, in which we want them to have the technical and tactical resources to deal with them.”
Meanwhile, Andrea Catalá, a member of the team, affirms that they have been able to achieve this deserved second place “because we have been able to tackle the game tactically, intelligently, demanding and supporting each other more than strength.”
The evolution of girls’ football in the academy
The team has the core of the last few seasons, made up almost entirely of players from the province and who have been growing up in the girls’ youth section of Villarreal CF, which has had a U10s side since the 2022/23 season.
Another fact to highlight is that almost half of the squad is first year, although they already have the experience of competing in men’s leagues, having already won two leagues at U12 level. They have also had the opportunity to play against top level teams such as Valencia CF, FC Barcelona, Slavia Prague and Sporting Lisbon. Not forgetting that a large part of the team had a unique experience recently at the JSSL7s in Singapore and that they came third in the Francesc Vila international tournament in Andorra. “The season was tough and long, but it has been very satisfying thanks to everything we have experienced, and now I would continue playing non-stop,” said Andrea. The final objective is to develop them, as in the 2024/25 season they will compete in a women’s amateur league for U16s.
Beyond football
Beyond the results, one of the objectives pursued is that the promising young players of the future learn the values of Villarreal CF and this is how the coach explains it: ‘For us it is very important to transmit our values of sacrifice, effort, humility, respect and, especially, to value the club in which they are.”
‘If someone told me a few years ago that I would be playing for Villarreal CF today, I wouldn’t believe it,’ said Andrea. And she added: ‘Football is not just a sport, it’s a feeling. It can teach us many things: to make an effort, to work as a team, the importance of a victory, but also that defeat is part of our education.”
And managing these emotions in the training stage is essential. “We don’t lose, we learn. We have to know how to accept our mistakes so that we can work from there and try to improve,” explained Ferriols. To which the young player responded: “Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose, but you always have to give the best of yourself. Football, and in particular Villarreal CF, have taught me how to manage these feelings.”
