The aim of the conference was to promote girls’ football in schools, with the hope of everyone having equal access to football by the end of 2024, after the training the girls would qualify as ‘Girls Football Activators’. 

The day consisted of practical workshops, where the students had a go at leading a group activity for other schools attending and Marketeer workshops where students had to come up with ideas and suggestions on how to improve their offer of girls’ football. We discussed barriers to participation and why some girls may not be confident enough to give football a try and debated ways to break down those barriers and encourage girls to come along to football club in school.

We were also lucky enough to listen to an inspirational talk by Kelvin Batey, a former BMX rider and World Champion. Kelvin spoke about his personal experiences in his sport and how he was able to overcome setbacks, relating his stories to the work of our Activators can do in school to promote football. To end the day, the girls worked together to create an Action Plan, outlining what they want to achieve and how they will achieve it. They have short, medium and long term goals to work towards and we can’t wait to see how they get on with delivering their ideas. A huge well done to Kelsey, Freya, Lucy, Catherine, Izzy and Lauren for representing Woodbrook Vale so well!