England women's head coach Hope Powell put Norwich City girls' Under-16 centre of excellence squad through their paces recently at Colney.

Powell delivered a session alongside England women's goalkeeping coach Keith Rees to approximately 80 local coaches as part of the latest Norfolk Football Coaches Association initiative.

Chairman John Revell revealed Powell's ground-breaking visit to Norfolk proved a huge success.

'I think the local coaches enjoyed it immensely with such a high profile and respected figure like Hope,' he said.

'The sessions went very well and I think the girls from the under-16 centre of excellence enjoyed themselves hugely, because you could not have anyone better than the national head coach and national development mananger.

'It's something we try to do with the sessions and the women's game is an area we would like to develop. This was an absolute first for us but the sport is massively popular and developing all the time, and perhaps there were people who came along to this session that might not have been with us before.

'I think Hope was happy with how it went and although she is extremely busy and has many demands on her time, I'm sure we would try to do something again in the future.'

Powell was the first female coach to achieve the FA's Pro-Licence qualification after a playing career that saw her score 35 international goals in 66 appearances. She has since guided England's women to the final of the 2009 European Championships as well as recently steering her country to a place at next summer's World Cup, which will be held in Germany.