Essex's first women's five-a-side football league launching

Ronni Harrison, who currently captains AFC Sudbury Women’s, is now director of Football For Females.

The league launched on March 6 at the Poweleague sports facility at St Helena School in Colchester.

Ronni, 22, who lives in Highwoods, said: “The main reason why I started it was because I was coaching a women's team and we were struggling with players.

“I wanted to create an easier way for females to play football. 

“I had a quick glance and all leagues were male dominated so I have decided to create my own.

“I'm currently captain of AFC Sudbury Women's and really keen to promote women's football and get as many women playing it."

Footballer - Ronni captains AFC Sudbury Women's (Image: Ronni Harrison)

Ronni explained the company was born from the idea of girls wanting to get into football and looking for a female inspiration to do so.

She said: “The whole idea of the company was to show it’s for women, made by women as a lot of the coaches are men.

“I’ve played for 15 to 16 years.

“When I started, there were hardly any teams to get into.

“The whole idea of the company is for girls to be inspired by a girl that’s had the experience and background of football as it’s very male dominated at the moment.

“It will be me offering my skills, knowledge and experience in football.”

Although the league is Ronni’s primary focus with Football For Females at the moment, she has plans to expand the concept further.

She said: “In the future, I will be contacting schools.

“I’m a level two football coach.

“I’ll look to do summer camps, but focusing for now on this five-a-side-league.”

The league is planned to run for 10 weeks.

When the season finishes, Ronni plans to start a new league which will have more women involved.

She said: “They’re not training with their teams so they’ll come down and play then.”

The league is open to women aged 16 and older, of any footballing background.