Pressure is growing on the UK Government to follow through on commitments to provide equal access to school sports with the latest statistics showing girls’ interest in football is outgrowing opportunities to play.
The day after lifting the Euro 2022 trophy at Wembley the Lionesses used the spotlight that trailed their monumental achievement to highlight the lack of opportunities for girls to play football.
The entire squad signed an open letter to Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss, at the time competing to become prime minister, pointing out that only 63 per cent of girls could play football in school and calling for them to be given the same access as boys.
Under Sunak, the government has worked with the Lionesses and in March announced a commitment to ensuring equal access to all sports in schools, including a minimum of two hours of PE per week and funding of more than £600m during the next two years to pay for improvements to facilities and provisions.
On Thursday, the major Karen Carney-led review into women’s football in England included the issue in its 10 strategic recommendations. “Government must deliver on recent commitments around equal access to school sports for girls,” the report said. Now, campaigners are keen for the government to clearly outline how that equal access will look.
“What the government does next is critical,” Ceylon Hickman, head of brand at charity Football Beyond Borders, said.
“It has been more than 120 days since the announcement to equalise school sports and it is now less than 60 days until the start of a new school year.
“We have heard nothing as to what this will look like. The government must heed the advice of the review to deliver on their recent commitments around equal access to school sports for girls and ensure that they are not just empty words. For that plan to be truly equitable, it must include specific and targeted work to engage teenage girls who are under-represented in the game.”
A recent Football Beyond Borders survey found that while 46 per cent of girls said they were more interested in football than ever since the Lionesses’ historic European Championship victory, 53 per cent conceded they rarely or never played the game, suggesting interest is outweighing access.
Carney said that one of the key messages from the review into domestic women’s football was that the game was badly in need of professionalisation across the board.
As reported in i on Thursday, the report has urged the Football Association to equalise FA Cup prize money for women and men as a way to help fund that development. The FA Cup prize pot for women currently stands at £3m. For the men it is £20m.
Ali Oliver, chief executive of the Youth Sport Trust, believes the disparity between men and women’s football sends the message that girls do not belong in the sport.
“The Youth Sport Trust is a charity that works to ensure every child can access the benefits of play and sport in education, we therefore welcome the recommendations made by Karen Carney within the government review of women’s football,” he said.
“The stubborn and persistent gap in participation between girls and boys has been driven by inequality in all aspects of women’s sport from access and participation to profile and recognition. The repeated message this gives to young women and girls is sport is not a place where they belong.”
MP Lucy Powell, Labour’s Shadow Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Secretary, said: “This is a pivotal moment and a huge opportunity for women’s football. In the wake of the Euros victory and building up to the World Cup, the government and entire football community should be working to capitalise as much as possible on this momentum to set the women’s game up for success for years to come.
“As the review demonstrates, there are huge challenges for the women’s game, from historic exclusion from national leagues, to the sustainability and support for players in the top leagues, to the talent pathway and access to football in schools.
“The government should get the ball in the back of the net for women’s football, and work with football bodies to respond to these recommendations as soon as possible.”
from Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/BQOYgik
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