Missy Bo Kearns: There's so many opportunities for girls in football

Missy Bo Kearns knows how important it is for girls and women to have opportunities to progress in the game.

She was eight-years-old when she started her footballing journey at the Liverpool FC Women Academy.

Fifteen years later, Kearns is now firmly established as a Women's Super League regular and is now with Aston Villa Women and is part of the England Lionesses set-up.

Kearns was one of the special guests that attended the second day of the Premier League Kicks Cup at St. George's Park this summer, which featured girls teams from 23 professional teams across England and Wales.

Here's what she made of an incredible day.

"I remember being a young girl and enjoying events like this. It's good for me to come and see how much things have kicked on and improved. It's really opened my eyes.

"Seeing so many girls here, there's a sense of hope and excitement because this is the next generation - there'll be a few girls who will probably be future stars for England.

"That's what's so exciting. There's so much talent here. It's a massive event and everyone is having fun. ​I want to join in!

"Being here I've realised how big the women's game has become and the importance of events like these things being in place so girls can have fun, express themselves, spend time with their team-mates and also get challenged in tournament football.

"Playing at such an iconic place as St. George's Park will be an eye opener for a lot of the girls. They might not get the opportunities to play at facilities like this. It might give them that inspiration to keep working hard and trying to progress.

"The landscape for women's game has improved massively. The difference is crazy. It's exciting to see what it is going to be like in another 5-10 years.

"It is a lot more professional now. There's more teams that are on par with each other. When I was growing up, there were gaps in opportunities, facilities and how much kit the girls would get. Now, everyone seems to be on more equal footing and everyone looks professional - you can see that here today.

"The opportunities that the Premier League provide are fantastic. It's a great experience for the girls and it's made even better by the fact that the activities are free.

"It makes everyone have a fair chance because they can get involved and it doesn't matter what background they are from, they can enjoy themselves and and show what they can do.

"It's good to bring in that competitive element in. For some of the girls, they might want to keep going and push on from this, some girls might feel like this isn't for them. Without experiencing this they wouldn't know.

"But there's so many other roles in football aside from playing and the Premier League Kicks Cup is showing what is available. The girls have had workshops and they are learning while being here.

"The workshops are very important. They've all probably learned something about themselves that they wouldn't have known before coming here. It's been a great day.

"To me, community work means everything. Giving back and helping in any way I can is something that I'll always do. I enjoy doing it.

"I think there are people who look up to me. Coming through the ranks, I've showed to people that it's possible to live your dreams.

"I hope my story is an inspiration for all of the girls here. I hope that it'll show them that I've been in these situations when I was younger, and there's a lot more out there now."

Premier League Kicks, funded by the Premier League through the Premier League Charitable Fund, uses the power of football and sport to inspire young people to reach their potential, in some of the most high-need areas in England and Wales.

More than half a million people have benefited to date.