Katherine's appliance of science

The Holy Cross Catholic High School student can often be found on a football pitch – either training with 20 males, refereeing in girls’ football or between the sticks herself for her team.

At 5ft 8in, she admits she went into goal because ‘I got stuck in there’ but she has not looked back.

“I have been playing since I was around seven,” said Ormerod, now 16.

“I played at Euxton girls, I moved onto Burnley and Blackburn and now I play for Accrington Ladies in their reserve team although I train with the first team.”

She will be following in big footsteps if she does make the move into international football honours, as former England keeper Rachel Brown started her career at Accrington Ladies before moving onto Everton.

“She is someone I admire, she is an inspiration and I also am coached by Chris Williams, who coaches England’s current goalkeeper Karen Bardsley at Manchester City,” she said.

“I have trained with Chris since I was an Under-12s and now I attend a session every Friday night for goalkeepers, where I am the only girl surrounded by about 20 boys. I

“ don’t mind as it helps me improve. I am better than some of them anyway!”

Ormerod says she is strong in her shot-stopping, catching and kicking and also trains the Year Sevens at Holy Cross.

And, when she is not shot-stopping, Ormerod is a junior referee and can be found blowing her whistle at Under-15s girls’ games.

“I have officiated at a couple of county cup games and have a cup final coming up soon,” said Ormerod.

“I enjoy it. I haven’t shown any cards yet but have given a few penalties. Everyone treats me well and they are respectful to the referee.”

And if she cannot use her sporty talents in the future, she will still have a blossoming career elsewhere.

“I prefer football but I am quite good at physics and will be studying physics, maths, chemistry and further maths at Runshaw College before hopefully doing a physics degree,” she added.