New insight comes as The FA report an increase in girls participation at its Skills Centres ahead of FA Girl’s Football Week
October 2016: To mark FA Girls’ Football Week (10th – 16th October) Lidl UK has revealed key research showing the rise in girl’s participation in the sport, while highlighting the job still to be done to get more youngsters playing. With statistics showing that parents of youngsters are five times more likely to encourage boys to play over girls, the on-going work by The FA and FA Skills grassroots partner Lidl, is essential to inspire more young girls to get involved in the sport.
After learning that many young girls don’t join local football training sessions or clubs because they find playing and competing with boys daunting The FA set about introducing a new element to their Skills programme to specifically encourage young girls to get involved. As part of this, since becoming an official partner last year Lidl has made it possible for The FA to introduce girls only sessions at its Skills Centres . The skills programme offers a unique brand of fun, friendly football coaching for 5-11 year olds across all abilities with 8 million places already accessed.
In the last year The FA have reported a 63% increase in the number of girls attending these skills sessions, with the split between girls and boys on the programme rising from just 9% to 25% over the past 12 months. Commenting on the figures former England Footballer Kelly Smith said, “It is so exciting to see more young girls getting involved in opportunities such as The FA Skills Centres. Playing sport with friends while receiving professional coaching is really important and hopefully the more girls that get the chance to try out football the more will fall in love with it. Football has the power to change young people’s lives but without the right access and encouragement many will miss out on the joy the sport can bring”
Kelly’s comments draw attention to the latest research from Lidl into the ways many families still view football when it comes to getting their children involved. Following a consumer poll it has been discovered that parents are still five times more likely to encourage their sons to play than their daughters with Dad’s being twice a likely to take their boys to watch a football game than their girls. This insight suggests while the number of girls participating is on the rise there is still a view that football is for boys.
Female Freestyle Footballer Liv Cooke suggests this may in part one of the reasons girls feel less encouraged to try the sport out saying “As a girl it’s sometimes intimidating to try a sport that is considered male dominant. Football has become such a big part of my life and I’m determined to help give girls the confidence to get involved. It’s great that Lidl and The FA provide opportunities for young people, especially girls, to get involved in the game.” To show young girls what they can achieve Liv has worked with Lidl to create a fun video showcasing her skills in one of the supermarkets stores that can be viewed here: https://vimeo.com/184989173/6915bcc4dd
Speaking on the work being doing with The FA for FA Girls’ Football Week, Senior Partnership Consultant for Lidl, Joanna Gomer said, “We are extremely proud to support grassroots football and want to do all we can to get both, boys and girls involved in the sport. The FA Skills Centers provide an amazing opportunity and we hope through our work with them and with inspirational women such as Kelly Smith and Liv Cooke that we can help inspire the next generation of female players.”
The research from Lidl UK and their work with Kelly and Liv will form part of The FA Girls Football Week (10th – 16th October) and will see a host of different activations designed to encourage young people to have a kick-about and discover the joys of football.
Through its partnership Lidl and The FA are aiming to provide 1.2 million opportunities for boys and girls to play football annually. To get involved or to learn more about The FA Skills programme and partnership with Lidl please visit www.lidl.co.uk/football
England v France
Fri, 21 Oct 2016
8:00pm, Keepmoat Stadium, Doncaster
Prices
Adults £7.50
Children/Conc £3.50
Family of 4 £15 (2 adults + 2 children)
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