Finals offer perfect platform

This summer's UEFA European Women's Under-19 Championship is seen as an ideal platform for recruiting young girls to play football.

Eight teams
Switzerland hosts the event from 11-22 July, with eight teams contesting the European crown. The draw was held at the St. Jakob-Park in Basle ahead of Saturday's men's international friendly between Switzerland and Ivory Coast. Germany, five-time tournament winners - four when it was an U18 event - line up with Denmark, Sweden and Belgium, while the Swiss hosts face holders Russia, Netherlands and France. A tough road to the title awaits the sides, with the memory of last year's gripping final in Hungary fresh in the memory – Russia emerged victorious 6-5 on penalties against France after a pulsating 2-2 draw.

Final-round venues
Six Swiss cities will stage the finals. The former home of top-flight club BSC Young Boys will be one location, with the 14,000-capacity Neufeld Stadium in Berne holding the final. One ground currently in use in the Swiss Football League is the home of FC Schaffhausen and this 7,300 arena will also be utilised. Other venues will be in Langenthal (capacity 1,860), Winterthur (9,000), Solothurn (6,750) and Wil (5,050).

Promotion a key
The Swiss Football Association is hard at work organising the showpiece under tournament director and experienced women's U19 coach Béatrice von Siebenthal, with promotional activities being given particularly high priority. It is hoped the blossoming of the senior women's game – which attracted huge spectator and media interest at last year's UEFA European Women's Championship final round in England – will have a knock-on effect as far as the women's youth game is concerned.

Bigger and bigger
"Women's football is getting bigger and bigger," UEFA Women's Football Committee vice-chairwoman Susanne Erlandsson told the workshop, attended by representatives of the eight participating associations at the U19 event. "Switzerland has plenty of experience of staging recent youth competitions, they have excellent facilities and stadiums for this tournament, so I'm sure we'll see a great tournament."

Splendid installations
The youngsters will have splendid installations for the finals. Berne is serving as the headquarters, and the delegations will enjoy excellent training, medical and recreational facilities for preparation and relaxation. The later stages of the competition is set for television coverage, with a concerted drive under way to attract the Swiss media in particular to devote major coverage to the tournament.

Men's example
Béatrice von Siebenthal believes the current success of the Swiss men's team, who are preparing for FIFA World Cup action in Germany, will spur local girls to take up the sport. "One of the reasons why girls join football clubs is that it's very attractive, people want to join the football party, whether they are boys or girls. We have a good U19 team, so the girls have goals to achieve [this summer]."

Recruiting impetus
With FIFA introducing a world women's U17 championship and UEFA deciding last week to launch its own U17 competition as a result, the impetus for youngsters to get involved is gathering pace. "There's always more that can be done to recruit young women players," Susanne Erlandsson told uefa.com after the draw. "We have brought the tournament to Switzerland this summer, and many new countries will host tournaments in future, to show how good women's and girl's football is, and to promote how beautiful this game is."

uefa.com will provide on-the-spot comprehensive coverage of the women's U19 final round when the action begins.