Gippsland United are looking to get more girls into soccer this season with the establishment of their new MiniTillies program, set to begin this Saturday at Baxter Park.
The program functions similarly to the already existing mixed gender MiniRoos but just for girls, giving them a safe and supportive environment to learn and develop their skills.
It aims to offer girls a fun activity based format to help them get into the sport and later transition into the club's development teams should they want to keep going.
Having established a full pathway from juniors all the way to senior State League 1 for its female players last year, club officials had noticed a relatively low number of girls taking up MiniRoos.
Club vice president Tara Dennison said girls could sometimes find playing with the boys a little intimidating and their hope was that MiniTillies would encourage more girls to take up soccer.
The eight-week program has been largely subsidised thanks to funding from the Growing Football Community Grant, making it more affordable for parents.
It will run from May 10 until July 5, offering sessions for girls aged 5-7 and also 8-11.
Gippsland United's State League 1 reserves women's coach Izzy Hobbs will be on hand to run the program.
Ms Dennison said the club were "really excited" to get the MiniTillies up and running.
"We want to provide this as an option to get into the sport and if the girls involved decide they want to keep at it, we have some availabilities in our under 12 development squad too," she said.
"It's all about inspiring young girls and building confidence."
Should the program be successful Gippsland United are hoping to expand it in future to areas like Trafalgar and Morwell and even run it on a term by term basis.
More information, including registration, can be found at www.gippslandunitedfc.com/minitillies-program