Girl power could be the way forward for Whitstable Town juniors.

Managers at the club are hoping to find enough female players to start an all-girl team, which could be competing in league matches as early as September.

They are off to a good start with five players already signed up but trainee coach Lisa Loftus said ideally they wanted to double that number.

“At the moment they train and play with the boys but they develop their confidence at different rates and it would be great to be able to train them separately,” she said.

“We always get loads of kids at the beginning of each season but the girls tend to stop coming because the boys get more confident and start tackling them.

“But I really want to hold on to these girls and get more - if we get enough we could even have two or three girls’ teams.”

Both sexes can train and play together until the age of 11 and any Whitstable Town girls team would play boys or mixed-sex teams in the leagues.

At the moment the under seven squad, which is the youngest of the 18 teams across the club’s junior section, has 19 players, including the five girls.

Mrs Loftus and fellow parent Shani Woodcock are training as coaches and would take charge of the girls’ team.

She said: “We would love to build them up through the club and develop them into really great players.

“They are good already and they just don’t give up - they have got a lot of motivation and really get stuck in.

“The parents are all behind us as well which is important because they are a key part of the club too.”

Prospective players should be in Year 1 at school but don’t have to live in Whitstable.

For more information call coach Les Apps on 07786 005401 or turn up to a training session, at Radfall Rec in Chestfield on Fridays from 5.30pm until 6.30pm.