Annie was taken aback by the volume of kids present at Kings Langley Secondary School and was left enamoured by the abundance of smiling faces throughout the teams as they trained.

Also present was Ashley Lawrence - the club’s Head of Youth Football and club director - who has been part of the club’s drive to expand its youth offering and promote a culture of enjoyment and participation.

Ashley stated “The club were delighted to welcome the High Sheriff to our Saturday morning training session at Kings Langley Secondary School, where more than 250 local youngsters train every week throughout the football season.”

He added “It was great to share with the High Sheriff the club’s commitment to providing opportunities for all young people to participate in football, regardless of ability or experience.”

“We also spoke at length about the importance of ensuring we create a welcoming and inclusive environment in which our young players feel empowered to develop and, above all, enjoy themselves.”

Spanning a prolonged period of time on a chilly morning, Annie observed the teams train and was keen to understand the structure behind the smooth operation run by the club.

She chatted at length with club officials and others about her passion for sport and the power she feels it can have on the local community.

Annie was kind enough to spare her time answering some questions where she described the sight of young people participating in sport as “absolutely the best thing I could ever see.”

She referenced the obvious joy of the kids as they played and was clearly elated by such a sight, mentioning the sparkling new 4G astroturf at the school which has been vital in ensuring the whole club can train together regardless of the unpredictable British weather conditions.

”I can hear how happy and engaged they all are and I think that that is just the most important thing, giving them a facility like this so they can come out and they love it!”

Annie’s theme for her year in office as High Sheriff is ‘Sport for Good’ where she plans to get the people in her community up and moving as she looks to utilise the positive benefits sport can have in all aspects of society.

Added to this, she feels that sport can play a crucial role in the recovery of the young population after the Covid-19 pandemic condemned the country to their own homes, halting the development of many children.

“I think for all these kids, particularly for those who may have been impacted by Covid and were at home a lot, to come out and enjoy not only the physicality of running around but also the social interaction with each other in a team game where they have to learn new rules, quite often with a new adult to be a great role model - with some professional coaches here as well - helps in every way.”

“Sport brings on all sorts of educational attainments, social interaction and offers a chance for kids to learn about themselves.”

With over 40 youth teams spanning boys and girls football, Kings Langley offers one of the largest youth programmes in the area and Annie is amazed at the growth of the club.

“At a time when everybody seems to blame kids for always being on their phones, it is the best news to hear how the club is growing, a lot by word of mouth because it’s such a successful club. I’m so impressed and so proud of what everyone’s achieved here.”

As the first female to hold both the position of High Sheriff and the Mayor of St Albans, Annie is somewhat a pioneer in tackling diversity and driving inclusivity within Hertfordshire and she is closely aligned with the club’s passion in growing the girls’ section.

With the most teams in the club’s history and the ground-breaking entry of an all girls squad into the predominantly boys West Herts Youth League, it’s been a big year for girls football here at Kings and Annie says she is “astounded” at the broadening of the game, citing the film ‘Bend it Like Beckham’ as her earliest memory of a female presence in football.

Released in 2002, the High Sheriff feels the influence of the film started not all that long ago and has helped fuel the recent surge in girls’ football.

“Young girls now just see it as normal to play football and I’ve seen it happen so fast. To see the growth of it is wonderful because girls appreciate team sports just as much as boys and you’ve done brilliantly here to attract so many.”

The first team have seen a rise in attendances of late, notably with an influx of parents and children coming to watch games together and Annie marks this as “hugely inspiring.”

“I think everybody should be out and looking at someone they aspire to be, whether they get to the first team or not it doesn’t matter, but also a sense of us doing things together is something we don’t do enough.”

She goes back to memories of her earlier days where she felt a sense of community and togetherness was forged by sport, as people crowded around a singular TV screen to catch a glimpse of their heroes and she knows the power of the relationships that can be formed from such activities.

“Going to watch sports en masse as a member of a team is so good for our health and so good for our friendship groups, not so much when they lose, but it’s still great fun!”

As a former UK Championship silver-medalist in the 1500-metre race, Annie knows all about the rigours of high-level sport, but after taking up roles within the community she is also aware of the importance of competition at grassroots level.

“Participation sport is far more important for mental health and it’s really important to look at those who aren’t participating as to how we can inspire them to come and give it a go.”

With our conversation drawing to a close, Annie again lauds praise on the youth operations at Kings Langley and says “A club like yours that is open to all abilities is exactly doing the right thing in encouraging everyone.”

We would like to thank the High Sheriff for her visit and the club can be proud of the good work they are doing in the local area, which was so vehemently backed up by Annie’s compliments throughout the morning.