Saints stars of the future? Stavanna Read and Emma Jones who have joined Southampton's prestigious centre of excellence. DA6502P1.TWO Forest schoolgirls have secured places at Southampton Football Club's prestigious centre of excellence, writes Jonathan Reeve.

Stavanna Read, of Ringwood, and Emma Jones, from Verwood, have joined the Saints Academy as part of the girls' under tens team.

The footie-mad nine-year-olds, who have played for New Forest Rangers and Rossgarth respectively, are now members of a 12-girl squad, picked from around 35 youngsters.

The tough selection process involved girls invited to trials with the Premiership club from all across the south of England, and even as far away as Cardiff.

They have already taken part in a tournament weekend in Essex, where they took on teams from other top clubs inc-luding Arsenal and Chelsea.

The duo join the Academy for training with the club's experienced coaches every Monday evening, and are put through trials throughout the season to ensure they are developing as expected.

Women's football is currently the fastest growing sport in the country, with more than 100,000 registered players at over 4,000 clubs across Britain.

And Southampton is certainly one of the best places to learn the game.

Over the past five years the Football Association has placed their centre of excellence as one of the top three in the country.

If the girls continue to show the same promise by the time they reach 16, they could bag a scholarship scheme at Barton Peverill College in Eastleigh.

Several graduates from that scheme have already progressed through to the Southampton Saints senior squad, which plays in the FA Women's Premier League Southern Division.