Mail readers pick city girl's soccer kit design for her school team

Apr 29 2008 By Tony Collins

FOOTBALL fanatic Naidene Ifill has netted a prized goal for the girls – by winning a competition to design a new soccer strip for her school. And the ten-year-old Brummie is likely to be even more popular with her classmates in Handsworth when they receive a visit from former England star John Barnes as part of her prize.

The St Augustine’s Catholic School pupil bagged the title of Birmingham’s ultimate kit designer after entering Wash & Go shampoo’s Score Ethiopia initiative, aimed at providing facilities for the poverty-stricken east African country.

Primary school children across the Midlands were given the task of combining their love of the beautiful game with a creative flair to develop a football kit for their school team.

Now the winning strip will be manufactured and exchanged with one designed by a school in Ethiopia – with former Liverpool and Watford winger Barnes visiting St Augustine’s with an Ethiopian representative in the summer.

Naidene said: "I love football. I can’t wait to meet our Ethiopian friend and hopefully we can have a kick-about with John Barnes too.

"It will be fantastic to see both of the kits made. St Augustine’s will now have the best football kit in Birmingham," she added.

The Score Ethiopia competition attracted entries from thousands of youngsters, with readers of the Birmingham Mail given the task of choosing the winning design.