A RISING star of women's football is hoping the success of the UEFA Women's Euro 2005 Championship will give the sport a huge boost in the town.

Natalie Parry, 24, plays in midfield for Chorley Ladies and hopes more women will join the team after watching the tournament, which attracted crowds of more than 25,000 for matches at Ewood Park, Blackburn and the City of Manchester Stadium.

Natalie, who lives in Astley Village, has played for Chorley Ladies for 10 years in the North West Regional Women's League.

She recently picked up the accolade of the league's player of the year and represented a North West League representative team in a game against Bolton Wanderers Ladies at the Reebok stadium on June 12.

The North West side won the game 2 -1 with Natalie scoring a spectacular second half winner. Natalie, a PE teacher at Turton High School, Bolton, said: "Playing at such a great stadium was a special experience and scoring a goal was the icing on the cake.

"The facilities were unbelievable, as you would expect from a Premiership club, but the pitch actually seemed smaller than ours at Charnock Richard."

Chorley Ladies train throughout the summer and Natalie is hoping new players can be recruited to take the team forward.

She said: "We are always looking for new players and the tournament has improved the profile of our sport.

"I'd like to encourage any players who would like to come along to contact us. We have tournaments in the summer months and the new season starts in September."

Players over the age of 14 interested in playing should contact manager Emma Beaton on 07841 104347.