SWINDON Town’s Football in the Community girls put in a strong showing at Reading’s six-a-side tournament at the Madejski Stadium recently.

The girls programme currently engages more than 300 players between the ages of five and 15 and is growing quickly in the region.

At Reading, the under 11s reached the final of their competition before losing out to Tottenham, while the under 13s were beaten by the host club in a penalty shootout at the semi-final stage.

The under 15s did not quite reach the last four of their tournament, as they were knocked out on goal difference despite beating Southampton 1-0 in the group stages.

Scheme manager Shane Hewlett was delighted with how the event went for the Swindon girls.

He said: “The girls did us extremely proud and were more than a match for all the opposition they faced at Reading.

“It was a very well run tournament hosted by our near neighbours Reading and it really is encouraging to see how far the girls have come since commencing with the Centre for Football Excellence in October 2011.”

Meanwhile, some of the Football in the Community team’s younger girls took part in a mini festival at the club’s Wanborough training ground recently.

The under 10s took on opposition from Ross-on-Wye and showed great promise ahead of next year’s campaign.

The girls section of the FITC programme at Swindon Town is holding trials for players who would like to be part of the set-up for next season.

The trials start on Monday, July 9 and any interested parties should contact Shane Hewlett or Jon Holloway on 01793 421303.

Finally, the Football in the Community Trust will be hosting a charity race night on Friday, June 29 in the Legends Lounge at the County Ground, with all proceeds from the evening going towards the girls’ development programme for the 2012/2013 season.