Manchester City and England midfielder Jill Scott says the passion for football in the North East is a driving force behind the emergence of so many talented female players from the region. A number of current internationals - including Scott, skipper Steph Houghton, Lucy Bronze, Jordan Nobbs and Carly Telford - hail from the North East and have all played at Sunderland at some point in their career.I think there must be something in the water, Scott told Sky Sports. Growing up I was always around football. I had a season ticket at Sunderland from the age of seven and I think there is just a real passion and a real love for the game up here. Durham-born Steph Houghton is Manchester City and England Womens captain If you look at all the players that have come through from the North East they are all hard-working and gritty. I dont know if thats because we played most weekends in the rain and the wind and that made us a lot stronger.But a lot of us played under Mick Mulhern at Sunderland and he was someone who would always give young players an opportunity.I remember playing with the first team around the age of 14 and some of my team-mates were around 29 or 30. Jill Scott has more than 100 caps for England It was tough being so young but giving us that opportunity at that age strengthened us. He did that with a lot of young players and you can see them reaping the benefits of that as players now. Its fantastic to see so many girls from the North East coming through.Scott was speaking at a coaching session for 35 girls run by Evolution Soccer in Durham, where she joined Newcastle United Womens defender Emily Ellis.This was a fantastic opportunity to come along and team up with Evolution Soccer who run a lot of coaching academies for boys and now they have one for girls, Scott said. Jordan Nobbs (r) and Lucy Bronze (l) are also from the North East Ive been doing soccer schools for the last two years or so now and I absolutely love doing stuff like this. Its great to see how many girls are now getting involved.It was difficult for myself growing up because there were a lot of boys playing and you did get bullied sometimes because you were the only girl playing.But now seeing the girls and talking to their parents, they say their confidence has really gone up because they are around girls and not around boys all the time. Also See: SportsWomen Latest Show News Latest News SportsWomen Video Nick Scott Jersey . Jovanovski, the 2012 champ seeded fifth, will meet surprise Japanese qualifier Misa Eguchi on Friday. Eguchi, ranked 183rd, qualified for her first WTA main draw this week, then beat No. Torry Holt Jersey . "Thank you for the warm welcome," Beckham said on an 80-degree February morning. In this case, it was soccer weather. 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Chris Paul added 13 points and 11 assists for the Clippers, who apparently are trying to make up for decades of humiliation at the hands of the Lakers all in one season; theyve won the last two meetings by a combined 84 points.Alexandre Bilodeau captured Canadas first gold medal at the 2010 Olympics, while Charles Hamelin was the Canadian teams only multi gold medallist in Vancouver. Erik Guay narrowly missed the Olympic podium four years ago, but hes Canadas most decorated World Cup alpine skier. The next honour one of them could add to an already illustrious career is Canadas flag-bearer for the Sochi Olympics. On Thursday in Ottawa, the Canadian Olympic Committee will announce who will carry the Maple Leaf into the Sochi opening ceremonies, and Bilodeau, Hamelin and Guay, all leaders in their respective sports, are all strong candidates. "Just being among those, its a great honour for me because those are great athletes and there are many more athletes that deserve to carry the flag and deserve to be in the front row when it comes to Canada and to be role models," Bilodeau told The Canadian Press in Montreal on Wednesday. "It would be a tremendous honour to do that for my country and well see (Thursday), but its definitely something very special to be flag-bearer and whomever its going to be, were going to be proud." When asked if hed been tipped to be in Ottawa, Bilodeau laughed and said "I havent been contacted yet, so if its already decided, Im not the one." Bilodeau won moguls gold on the second day of the Games, and the image of the freestyle skier celebrating with his brother Frederic is one of the most enduring of Vancouver. Hamelin claimed two of Canadas record-setting 14 gold medals, but even more remarkable is the fact the short-track speedskater, whos also an eight-time world champion, won them within half an hour of each other, winning the 500 metres before returning to the track as part of the victorious 5,000-metre relay. Guay posted a pair of fifth-place finishes in Vancouver, in the downhill and super-G, missing a medal in super-G by just three hundredths of a second. In December, he won his 21st World Cup medal, breaking the Canadian record for podium performances held by Steve Podborski. Guay will be in Kitzbuehel, Austria, on Thursday, where hes racing in a World Cup. Canadas flag-bearer traditionally generates plenty of conversation, and this time is no different, with Canadian hockey stars Sidney Crosby and Hayley Wickenheiser garnering much support. Crosby, who created one of Vancouvers golden moments when he scored the winner in the final versus the U.S., isnt expected to be in Sochi for the opening ceremonies as his Pittsburgh Penguins have a game that night versus the New York Rangers. While Bruins defenceman Zdeno Chara is missing two of Bostons NHL games to carry the flag for Slovakia, when asked about the possibility of carrying Canadas flag, Crosby said last weekend "It hasnt been brought up (by the Canadian Olympic Committee).dddddddddddd." Wickenheiser, meanwhile, is Canadas biggest womens star and a pioneer of the game who will make her fifth Olympic appearance. According to Hockey Canada, the womens team will march in the Feb. 7 opening ceremonies, despite playing their opening game the following night versus Switzerland. Wickenheiser, however, was a participant in the 2010 opening ceremonies -- she read the athletes oath. Plus, womens hockey player Danielle Goyette carried the flag into the opening ceremonies in 2006 in Turin, Italy. Long-track speedskater Clara Hughes carried the flag in the 2010 opening ceremonies while figure skater Joannie Rochette, who captured bronze just days after the death of her mom, was chosen to carry it out. Other favourites for Sochi include figure skaters Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, who won Canadas first ice dance gold medal in Vancouver, and three-time world champion Patrick Chan. With the new team event starting the day before the opening ceremonies, however, Virtue and Moir have said they wont march. Two-time world champion Kaillie Humphries, who teamed up with Heather Moyse in Vancouver to win Canadas first ever womens bobsled medal, is another favourite. She and Moyse will be gunning for gold again in Sochi. And long-track speedskater Christine Nesbitt also won gold in Vancouver, and is a seven-time world champion and has won a whopping 39 World Cup titles. Theres a Facebook pace supporting skier Larisa Yurkiw for flag-bearer that has over 3,500 likes. Yurkiw missed the Vancouver Games after suffering a bad knee injury in 2009, and then was forced to go pounding on doors for financial support after she was cut from the national team program. Yurkiw bounced back to qualify for Canadas Sochi-bound team. Each sport nominates an athlete as a candidate for flag-bearer. But some athletes see the responsibility as a distraction. Diver Alexandre Despatie told reporters before the 2012 London Games that he would decline any offer to carry the flag. "Its a great distraction, although it is the greatest honour an athlete can receive," the two-time Olympic silver medallist said. Moguls skier Jean-Luc Brassard finished fourth at the 1998 Nagano Olympics, and blamed his disappointing performance on the fact hed ca