Two of the Chelsea Ladies side are keen to see fellow Kent youngsters make the grade by playing football to keep them fit.

Claire Rafferty and Dani Buet were part of the Kent School Games launch team at the University of Kent in Canterbury as Kent County Council actively looks to see more children participating in sport.

Both of the Chelsea Ladies have come through the ranks to become part of the Super League squad with Buet a regular member of Hope Powell’s senior England women’s squad and has also represented England at Under 17 and Under 19 level.

Rafferty is also an integral part of the England squad, having made five appearances for the senior side and played in the World Cup quarter final against France last year.

With obesity a problem amongst children nowadays, both of the Chelsea Ladies are keen to see as many kids out there playing a sport with 23 year old Rafferty from Orpington telling KSN how she sees things:

“I think it’s important that kids have role models. I remember when I was growing up, I didn’t really have anyone to look up to that was accessible.”

“We’ve both come through playing for Kent County and that’s something for everyone to aim for and it’s nice to see girls getting involved in sport.”

As for Buet, the 23 year old from Chatham is hoping that more girls follow in her footsteps and she takes her role as an ambassador for Chelsea seriously: “I think it’s good for the game that we get out there as Ladies football is the biggest growing sport.”

“With all the media coverage and the Super League, more and more girls are watching it. With the women’s game, it’s a lot easier for us to be in touch with our fans, where it is difficult for the men sometimes.”

“Coming to places like the University of Kent is good as it shows girls what they can become and hopefully one day they will be wearing a Chelsea jacket.”

Both Rafferty and Buet are expected to be part of the Chelsea squad that takes on Gillingham at Chatham Town Football Club on Sunday afternoon with Buet hoping it might propel someone locally onto a national level:

“If we can put on a great game against Gillingham and get a lot of people down like we did last season, it would be fantastic. We took Ashlee Hincks from Gillingham and she was a local girl.”

“When I was growing up playing football in Kent, I got involved through Soccer Schemes. There was one at Strood with Arsenal and that’s where I got my trial. More and more girls are getting picked up that way.”

Meanwhile, Rafferty agreed that coming out playing sides like Gillingham was important for the good of the game as a whole:

“It’s good that girls can start playing for their local side like Gillingham and then maybe go on to play for someone like Chelsea.”

Women’s football has often been frowned upon by a lot of men within the game, but it has to be seen to be believed as to how gifted some of the girls are and Buet is hoping to dismiss the old stereotypes of women being unable to play good football:

“It’s a lot more technical game. We like to get the ball down and play and I think the last season with the World Cup and the WSL has proved to a lot of people that women can play football.”

Kick off at between Gillingham Ladies and Chelsea Ladies is 2pm on Sunday 19th February at Chatham Town Football Club.