Cumnock Juniors Girls FC has reached the remarkable milestone of having 100 girls involved with their clubs.

Starting back in 2014, the club was initially started due to a lack of opportunities for young girls in the area wanting to get involved in the sport.

The closest clubs were in Ayr, and that was the original reason for the Cumnock club’s inception.

After originally starting out as an after-school activity, the club then transitioned into different age groups, sparked by the popularity of, and interest in, the original team.

Club chair Mhari Lindsay has been involved with the team since the very start.

Having got involved because of her niece, who wanted to get started in football, Mhari has been part of the story from the very earliest stages, with only a couple of girls, to the milestone of 100 young players.

Mhari is extremely proud of where has gone has come from, and where it continues to head.

She told the Chronicle: “It’s amazing seeing the club grow from what it was at the very start.

“Back then, there wasn’t that opportunity for girls around this area to get involved, you were having to travel to Ayr or Kilmarnock for a girls team.

“Since then, I’ve have loads of girls and parents asking about getting involved, which is extraordinary.”

Mhari hopes that the club can continue to break down some of the barriers that still exist to getting involved in women’s football – though she believes the sport has improved massively in recent seasons.

She added: “I think football for women as a whole has come a long, long way in the last few years.

“Don’t get me wrong, there’s still a long way to go, but when you see some of the bigger teams like Glasgow City, Rangers and Celtic doing what they’re doing, it will help the girls feel like there is something to achieve in the game.”

The hope now for Mhari is that the Cumnock club can provide a pathway for younger girls wanting to get involved in the sport.

Some of the girls who started out in the original team have now come full circle, and are looking to get involved with coaching the younger teams.

Mhari continued: “When the young girls can see what can be achieved, and they see girls that were once in their shoes being successful, it adds that little bit extra motivation.

“It’s given them an opportunity to do something that wasn’t available in Cumnock before.

“Hopefully in another five or 10 years, we’ll be a bit closer to where the men’s game is, but I’m extremely proud of what we’ve done so far.”