History of Under 19's (Centex)

Centex was formed in 2003 soon after the England Women’s Under 19 squad returned from the World Championships in Baltimore, USA.  Another disappointing 4th place led us to question the effectiveness of our then current system for training and developing the talents of young and aspiring England players. 

Historically, England representation was only possible through a system that necessitated a player achieving county standard before they could proceed to territorial and the same for national.  Although there was some credit in this system it did have shortcomings.  For example, what would happen if a player was ill or injured and unable to participate in trials, or she was simply having an ‘off’ day?    Would she be unable to progress further that season?  Due to the widely held belief that this system was far from perfect and that England had the ability to achieve a medal on a World stage, Centex was formed in the late summer of 2003.  Correspondence was sent to schools and clubs throughout England asking for coaches/teachers to nominate any player they felt had the physical and mental attributes to potentially compete for their country.  With no idea about what response we would receive, we were overwhelmed by the vast number of replies and interest in the programme.  Thus in January 2004 Centex held its first ever training with over 130 players.  Since that day we have come a long way and have been party to many individual and squad successes.  In order to continue enhancing the system the establishment of 3 regional centres occurred in 2005.  The programme now boasts over 400 players at 4 regional and 1 national centre and is ever advancing!