‘Host Your Kit’ ambassador, Jenny Beattie, writes…. Finally the FIFA Women’s World Cup has kicked off in Canada, to the relief of the fans and players who, like me, have been desperate for it to start
As the qualifications rounds drew to a close and the final 24 teams finished their preparations, I think I can safely say the hype and media coverage surrounding women’s football has been nothing short of incredible.
When the likes of EA Sports decide to include international women’s teams in FIFA 16 you know there has been a fundamental shift in the perception of women’s football.
The game has been a big part of my life since I was very young. I grew up in Glasgow and was lucky enough to be surrounded by a sporting family who always encouraged me to get involved and live an active life. I joined my school team and played for Hamilton Accies boys’ team because at that stage there were not the same opportunities for young girls getting into football as there are now.
A standout memory for me is watching the Women’s FA Cup final on a Bank Holiday Monday and seeing childhood heroes like Scottish internationalist Julie Fleeting playing for Arsenal. It never occurred to me that I would end up getting a winner’s medal in that same tournament one day or that I would end up as a teammate of Julie’s in the national team.
Another personal standout has been to see the development of Glasgow City LFC, this season making the quarter finals of the Champions League. They are all the more impressive because they haven’t been backed by one of the established Glasgow clubs like Rangers or Celtic and have done it all on their own. With their youth set up getting better and better and having a continuous link to the community, they’re a credit to Scottish football.
Scotland hasn’t yet qualified for a major tournament at senior level. Believe me; I know what it feels like to come close! We failed at the final hurdle against Spain in the European Championship play-offs and most recently we lost out to Holland at the same stage for this World Cup. But we are climbing the rankings and our squad is much stronger with exciting youth talent being developed, so I have no doubt that going into the Euro qualifiers in September we will reach the level that every member of our squad wants to be at. If anything, the disappointment of those play-off defeats has only added to our determination.
So what has changed the image of women’s football? For me it was the London 2012 Olympics. I will never forget being at Wembley Stadium and watching club and international colleagues play for Team GB and beat Brazil in front of 80,000 people. It was at that moment, I believe, that people in the stadium or watching on television now saw it as a ‘proper’ professional sport… perhaps for the first time. London 2012 showed that women’s football is here to stay and is a brilliant sport for the future health and fitness of girls and women.
That same year also saw further progress at club level in England as the top league became the FA WSL, reducing it to 8 teams and making for a much more professional and competitive league. This year it’s become even bigger with WSL 2 which has added to the excitement with promotion and relegation battles. And with clubs like Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool all introducing full-time women’s sides, we’re definitely heading in the right direction.
Jill Scott, Steph Houghton, Toni Duggan, Karen Bardsley and Lucy Bronze are representing England in Canada and I am sure I can speak on behalf of all of their teammates and the staff when I say that we wish them the best of luck. Their opening match in Group F is against France which will be a tough opener. We (Scotland) played France in a friendly last week as they completed their final preparations so it was really interesting to see just how talented their squad is at first hand. They have a very sharp looking strike force with abundance of flare to look out for from the likes of Louisa Necib and Le Sommer, but I’m looking forward to hopefully an attacking match from both sides.
I wish my teammates all the best and can’t wait for their match tomorrow night. We’ll be supporting them all the way!
(Manchester City and Scotland player Jenny Beattie is an ambassador for the Host Your Kit campaign from UK cloud company iomart called Host Your Kit which is giving away 15 FREE Nike squad kits to girls’ youth football teams during the World Cup. For more details on how to enter go to www.hostyourkit.com)
Pictured – Jennifer Beattie in the iomart data centre
SHE KICKS – the online community for women’s football
