The #SSEWomensFACup Final kicks off today at 5.30pm! If you’re not going please do tune in live on BBC1 or get involved with the hashtag chat because #TogetherWeCan inspire a generation and grow the profile of the women’s game!
I don’t know about you, but until very recently my daughter thought that ‘football was for boys’. Didn’t matter that she loved a kickabout with her brothers, she only ever saw men playing it on the TV, and just like when I was growing up she honestly felt that it was a boys sport.
Last September we went along to a local Wildcats girls football session, and her eyes were really opened; she spent an entire Saturday morning with a huge range of girls of all ages and capabilities, having fun learning a sport she was rapidly coming to love. She was a little dismayed at her own lack of ball skills, but rather than feeling disheartened she was simply more determined to learn to be better.
And since then she’s caught the Women’s Football Show with her Dad (and me, but her dad is just a way bigger footie fan), and they’ve started watching matches together too. She even has the BBC Women’s Football news bookmarked in her browser. To be honest, she’s becoming a bigger football fan than any of her older brothers. She’s keen to start regular Wildcats sessions after the summer, and make them leap from watching to playing.
Most important to me is not the fact that she’s starting to appreciate a new sport – no, I feel it’s actually much much deeper. She’s understanding that this is just one more demonstration of the fact that she can be anything she wants to be. She sees with her own eyes that with determination and support #TogetherWeCan inspire a generation to be fearless!
Don’t forget – tune in today at 5.30 to watch Arsenal take on Chelsea (*whispers* our money’s on Chelsea Ladies to win the cup!), and do get involved with the hashtag chat #TogetherWeCan too. You’ll be amazed.
