With more girls playing football in the Republic of Ireland than ever before, the FAI’s new Women & Girls’ Football Action Plan, published on Tuesday, will ‘Strengthen The Foundations’ already in place so that the game can continue to grow.
Aligned with the FAI Football Pathways Plan, the Action Plan will serve as a specifically targeted part of that, and is aimed at creating an ‘encouraging, empowering and exciting football ecosystem’ for women and girls across the country.
The Action Plan takes evidence from the broad population – for example the shocking statistics that only 11% of teenage girls in Ireland are meeting the recommended daily physical activity levels, and that only 9% of women volunteer in football clubs, and has built its solutions under three pillars of participation, pathways and performance.
Participation – Keep girls playing football throughout their teenage years
Pathways – Have a woman on the Football Committee at every Grassroots club
Performance – Create high-performing environments specifically for female players
Building on the legacy of the Ireland Women’s National Team competing at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, there are over 45,000 women and girls registered through the FAI Connect system, over 25,000 girls playing football in school, over 800 women engaged in the Coach Education pathway and more female referees than ever before.
These are strong positives that would have been hard to believe only a decade ago when the Women’s National League was being formed, which was to grow into the SSE Airtricity Women’s Premier Division and which now is in the planning stages of adding a second tier.
As little time ago as 2019 there was one girl playing the sport for every six boys. Now that ratio has halved.
The Football Pathways Plan published last year outlines a 12-year strategic vision for developing football for the whole game, while the Action Plan will focus specifically on growing the game and unleashing the full potential of women and girls’ football in Ireland.
Six goals have been set as targets to be accomplished between 2025 and 2027.
Inspire – Provide recreational football for teenage girls in schools and clubs
Empower – Deliver leadership courses for young leaders
Build – Launch a Future Head of Football programme
Support – Provide individual development plans and mentorship
Develop – Review the women’s international pathway
Lead – Deliver research-informed programme specifically for elite female players
The second and third of those targets are about creating leadership off the field of play and in so doing build a sustainable future of women being a full part of the leadership of sport at every level from the FAI Board, where a 40 per cent gender balance has been achieved through to every club and football community in the country.
“I’m excited to launch the Women and Girls’ Football Action Plan, which is one of the key parts of the Football Pathways Plan, and will help bring women and girls’ football in Ireland forward on and off the pitch,” said Hannah Dingley, Head of Women’s and Girls Football at the FAI and our gust on this week’s Sport for Business Podcast.
“The theme of the Plan is to Strengthen the Foundations. We have already seen a lot of progress, and there is so much excellent work being done at all levels of the game around the country, but there is more to do and we need to ensure that we have the foundations strong enough to support the long-term growth of the game.”
“It is great to see the launch of the Women and Girls’ Football Action Plan,” added Marc Canham, FAI Head of Football.
“The development of a plan specifically for Women and Girls’ football is one of the 11 priority actions from the Football Pathways Plan and is essential in continuing the momentum around women and girls’ football.”
SPORT FOR BUSINESS PERSPECTIVE
Putting enough young women through leadership courses will enable them to build their own networks, just as is happening through Sport Ireland and other NGB’s. Making it normal to have women making the decisions in relation to the sport, for men and boys as well as women and girls, will be a way of embedding equality.
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Hannah Dingley is the guest on this week’s Sport for Business Podcast
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