'It was purely because I was a girl' - female footballers in Cambridgeshire open up on discrimination
Just one official case of discrimination has been reported to the Cambridgeshire FA in the last two years
Last updated 19th Dec 2024
Female footballers in Cambridgeshire are opening up to Greatest Hits Radio about the discrimination they've faced at all levels of the game.
We can reveal in the last two years, just one case of any form of discrimination against a female player has been reported to the Cambridgeshire FA.
But the governing body believes more cases are going unreported.
'We were an easy target'
Mia Jenkins plays for Cambourne Town FC Under 18s and is a qualified referee, when she was targeted by a coach.
"I think we were an easy target at that time; he (the coach) wanted his team to do well and pushing us was going to help him," she said.
"I don't think girls should be subjected to that and I've experienced a lot that I've pushed through, but that specifically did impact me quite a lot."
Because of this, Mia was "put off" refereeing but has since been making her way back into this.
"My next door neighbour's daughter plays and they ask me to referee their time quite a lot," she said.
"Unfortunately I have games at the same time but I am trying to get back into it to show women can do just as good a job (as males) at refereeing."
'You feel less motivated'
Georgia Mellors is a player-coach at Cambourne Town FC, wanted to get involved playing football as her older siblings did so, and played in boys teams while she was growing up.
She's also heard comments made by coaches about the female game while playing in her college team, as well as outside of college.
"It affected us as a team, but now we've dealt with the situation, we're playing a lot better because of it," Georgia said.
"You feel less motivated to do it; sometimes when I've had these comments made towards me, my football's changed.
"My head drops, I disengage with the game, but you get other times where it motivates you, it makes you angry you play a lot better."
'It was purely because I was a girl'
Research from Kick It Out found 80% of women's football coaches have experienced some form of sexism or misogyny in a coaching environment.
Helen Carder started playing football at around eight-years-old but because of a shortage of girls' teams, signed up for a boys' side.
But it wasn't until she turned 11 that Helen got the chance to play for Cambridge United, which by that point she said around three to four years worth of matches were missed.
"I remember one training session (before joining Cambridge), they were throwing the ball up one at a time, you had to run and head it into the back of the net.
"I ran up, headed the ball into the net, and the coach shouted out 'even the girl can do it' to the rest of the players, yet I stood there and still didn't get picked; it was purely because I was a girl."
At school, Helen - now a girls' coach at Cambourne Town FC - said she struggled to perform as well because she was "only used to training and not playing matches", and told us she had been substituted because she was a female.
As a coach, she's also seen young female officials take abuse from the sidelines at a tournament last summer.
"At the end of it, she was in tears because it completely knocked her confidence and it was not only one of the referees but both of the female referees this coach did this to," Helen recalled.
"It's not all the time, we've got some great guys out there helping women's football, but there are still the odd ones out there that's still a challenge."
Paul Burling has been at Cambridge City Women for around 20 years, as a parent, coach and now chairman.
During his time at the club, he's faced discrimination just for being involved in the female game.
Paul also believes the female game is "generations behind" when it comes to progress.
"I've got friends who've made remarks about my role at a women's club, it's just banter from some people but it goes too far; what was banter 10 years ago is discrimination these days," he said.
"It disappointed me in that I heard it from within the club; my daughter plays, nobody wants to hear that sort of innuendo and banter; prevalent is a strong word but it's still in the game and I think it will be for a while to come."
In the 2023-24 grassroots football season, the FA issued more than 1,300 charges for discrimination, the average ban lasting seven matches.
The Cambridgeshire FA has told us the one official report they've received was related to sexism against a female player.
Jo Knox is the governing body's chief executive:
"It's not massive, but there's probably more (cases of discrimination) out there which we encourage to be reported," she said.
"There's a grassroots code of conduct where we're encouraging clubs to take action and greater responsibility across the game so everyone is trying to deal with people within their own clubs and leagues where they see it.
"The tougher sanctions are definitely coming for people who are being discriminatory."