Did you know that next week is FA Girl’s Football week (w/c 25th April) #WeCanPlay?
It’s aim is to change the perception of female football in girl’s, parents and teachers (primary and secondary school) which will in turn encourage girls to participate in this great team sport.
So, when we were invited up to Wembley Stadium for a tour, had the opportunity to meet Kelly Smith and have a kick around with her and some of the FA coaches there was just a little bit of excitement!
Football is the largest female team sport in England but only half of girls surveyed by the FA thought football was for them and one in four girls interested in playing football didn’t follow up their interest because of the lack of peer support. Dad’s in particular were more likely to encourage their sons to play than their daughters.
Although things are changing there is still an imbalance. We need to support our women in sport. Without our support, the opportunities for professional female sports opportunities won’t open up.
If there’s one thing I’ve learnt from being a parent is that our opinion counts and we can do a great deal to bridge the gender divide. As a parent to three girls, I don’t talk about anything being for girls or boys (unless it’s public toilets!). As a result my girls have a very positive attitude to most things, in particular sport… taking part in gymnastics, swimming, running, rugby, climbing and football. And sadly at times they have been the only girls participating in some of these activities.
If you’re interested in finding out more about girls football in your area go to the FA website to see what’s available near you (it lists all the clubs in your area), if you’d like to get your school involved have a look at the FA free resources and if your after some holiday sessions the FA skills website offers some great value training.
Oh …. and if you don’t know who Kelly Smith is (tutt’s quietly) she’s ‘only’ an English football forward who currently plays for Arsenal Ladies in the FA WSL (Women’s Super League). She started playing aged 6 and making her senior debut in 1995. She’s accumulated 100 caps for the England women’s national (she’s England’s record goal scorer- 46 goals) and also played in the 2012 London olympics. How’s that for a career in women’s football!?
So if you’ve got a daughter, ask her if she’d like to play some football when you chat about after school clubs and school holiday sessions. Ask her if she’d like to go and watch some of the women’s football matches (the WFL cup final is at Wembley in a few weeks time).
Her answer may just surprise you!
Here’s a little video of my girls discussing the day. Sorry for the poor quality I had the camcorder on the wrong setting #parentfail
What a fantastic fun event. I have a couple of football mad boys who love both ladies and men’s football.
This is so great! My friends daughter is 5 and she’s so into football, I’ll tell her to look at the FA website
What a fantastic experience, I’m sure that your girls loved it! Both of my two (boy and girl) love football too, so they’ll definitely have the choice to play any sport when they’re older!
I’m so pleased to see how women’s football has grown over the years. When I was at school we had a five-a-side team but we were banned by other schools for being too rough! We weren’t but we were the only mixed gender school in the area and people also assumed we were ‘tough’.
It’s so important to get girls involved in any sport they want to play – my daughter hates playing football at school becuase it’s very male oriented but loves playing it at home with her brother and dad x
I think that’s very common. I think schools need to make an effort to change how football is perceived at schools and make it more accessible to girls
Such a great initiative, Emma has friends who attend football lessons weekly she she has never shown interest, I do think it is also a personal choice and a personality matter more than anything else.xx
All sports and after school activities are down to choice but many girls don’t get the choice or the opportunity xxx
Love this – wish more had been done to encourage girls when my daughter was younger – I just have the two boys at school now, and they both like football far more than rugby!
Kelly Smith is an inspiration! Wish all schools (and parents) encouraged their children more with all team sports – football definitely included!
I have a really good friend here who was at the top of the league in female football in Canada. My son refused to believe that a girl could be any good (much to my annoyance!) that was until she played against them. It did make me laugh! Great that they are working to make it more accessible to girls! 🙂
Oh that’s fantastic. I’d love to have seen his face 😉
This is a great idea and I am sure there are lots of girls that would enjoy playing football.
What a great event, especially to meet Kelly Smith – I think my daughter would love to play more football.
What a great event, looks like you all had fun! My girls have no interest in football unfortunately
Eliza has just started playing football, hoping she keeps it up as its a great game
Brilliant !!
There should be more girls in football
X I wish her the best of luck