Why it's so important to give girls the opportunity to play football at school

As a follow-up to the outpouring of support and admiration for female athletes on International Women’s Day, The FA has hosted the first ‘Biggest Football Session Ever’ across England.

The nationwide event, spearheaded by The FA’s ‘Let Girls Play’ campaign, saw more than 78,000 primary and secondary school children take part in bespoke football sessions.

As women’s football continues to grow in popularity, initiatives like this one are hugely important in paving the way for the future of the sport.

But while football as a whole is saturated with young boys looking to start a professional career for themselves, the opportunities for girls specifically have been few and far between. Certainly for myself, and the majority of girls I grew up with, taking part in a proper game of football was a rarity.

When you grow up in a football supporting family, the beautiful game becomes part of your everyday life. From my first ever Steven Gerrard shirt, to lying on the living room floor watching international icons of the noughties — football became ingrained.

But donning my 2002 England kit to practise keepy-ups with a flyaway ball in my grandparents’ back garden and swapping football cards at lunchtime was as far as it went for me.

In primary school, there was one tattered, semi-deflated old ball that was always snatched up by the boys in the older years. Moving into secondary school wasn’t much better either.

PE consisted mainly of netball, badminton, and hockey, but never the offered option of basketball, cricket, or rugby — something the boys enjoyed most weeks. When the teachers were questioned over why girls weren’t included, we were met with a blunt, rather empty answer of: ‘The girls just don’t play those sports.’

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