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Attendance at the Athens Women’s Football Summit, the launch of the Football Association’s strategy and the London FA’s Grassroots Awards marked a busy start to the month for the Her Game Too team.
Over in Greece, Her Game Too’s CEO Caz May and Eve Ralph, the campaign’s Head of Education and Coaching, were keynote speakers at a two-day conference attended by representatives from football clubs and organisations from around the world.
The Athens Women’s Football Summit aims to help drive the healthy, economically-sound growth of women’s football at all levels across the globe, and the event enabled Caz and Eve to outline Her Game Too’s aims and achievements to an international audience.
Clubs represented included Her Game Too Partner Club Brighton and Hove Albion, as well as other trailblazers within female football including Chelsea, Lewes, VfL Wolfsburg and Eintracht Frankfurt.
Caz said: “The Athens Women’s Football Summit was an incredible experience.
“Eve and I were privileged to not only be invited, but to be asked to be keynote speakers for the first day of the conference.
“It was an incredible opportunity for us as an organisation to tell other organisations and football clubs from all over the world about what we do and what we want to achieve.
“After the presentation, so many people came up to us to say they want to support Her Game Too, that they hadn’t realised the severity of the issues we raised around sexism and misogyny and that they feel organisations like Her Game Too are needed in their countries and within their football clubs, including places like Spain, Germany and Poland.
“The experience was invaluable for extending the reach of our campaign and also for Eve and I as individuals, because there were some incredible workshops and inspiring people we got to listen to on the panels, who are all working together to make positive changes for women in football.”
Meanwhile, Roopa Vyas, Chief Operating Officer of Her Game Too, was at Wembley Stadium for the launch of the FA’s strategy for the next four years.
She said: “I was thrilled to be invited to the FA’s 2024-2028 strategy launch event at Wembley ahead of England's match against Greece.
“FA CEO Mark Bullingham kicked off the evening by reflecting on the past four years - celebrating the success of both the men's and women's teams, while acknowledging the near-misses that fuelled the desire to push for more tournament victories.
“The FA’s focus on expanding the female game and building on the existing momentum was particularly exciting, as it will be crucial to growing football inclusively.
“One of the standout initiatives was the introduction of mandatory reporting with the hope to increase diversity - aligning with broader goals of fostering a more inclusive football environment.
“It was inspiring to see such ambitious targets, and I am excited for Her Game Too to be part of this journey by contributing to the vision of a more diverse and representative sport.
“The future of football feels incredibly promising, and I can’t wait to see these goals come to life!”
Her Game Too’s Head of Grassroots and Administration Lucy Ford was also in London to represent the campaign at the London FA’s Grassroots Awards, which recognised the achievements of members of the grassroots community across the capital.
Former footballers Andy Cole and Rachel Yankey, as well as England’s Powerchair captain Jon Bolding, were among the guests handing out awards at the Guildhall, and the winners included Club of The Year Vicky Park Rangers, Lioness Award-winner Ellen Maggs and welfare officer Lisa-Marie Powell, who won the Keeping Football Positive Award.
Lucy said: “It was a real privilege to be invited along to an event that celebrates everything that’s good about grassroots football in the London area.
“It was a great opportunity to develop connections with people in lots of different roles in grassroots football and to find more about the incredible work they’re doing.”
