"The girls now have female role models": East of England coach speaks as Lionesses start World Cup
The Lionesses are hoping to continue their winning streak after becoming European champions last Year.
Last updated 24th Jul 2023
An East of England football coach says more girls are becoming interested in the sport.
The Lionesses are hoping to continue their winning streak after becoming European champions last Year.
Steve Moore has been the Chairman of Abbey Youth Football Club since 2016. The club supports both boys and girls and frequently has them playing against each other.
He told us he has seen an increase in the number of girls getting involved in football over the last few years.
Why are more girls getting involved?
Steve told us girls love the game just as much as boys and the growing coverage of women's football is having a positive impact on them.
"They just love the competitiveness of it; they love the feeling of scoring a goal; they love the comradery; the collaboration with their teammates; they love being a part of something, being a group.
"Since the success of the Lionesses, the girls now have female role models. There are girls who play professional football who they want to be like... and there's an argument they didn't necessarily have this before."
Why is coverage of Women's football important?
Steve told us how seeing more people support the women's football and seeing them gain more media attention has encouraged younger girls to get into the game and gives them role models to look up to.
"Girl's football being shown on various media outlets raises its profile which gives it more credibility and also enables more funding to go into the game.
"This means it can be distributed to the girl's grassroots teams which means more opportunities for them to play, so it becomes a never-ending positive cycle."
Despite the overall positive experiences they have had, Steve told us his Teams have faced some insulting comments from the parents of the opposition team who used to play in the boys league. Such as 'They're only girls you should be able to beat them easily.'
The girls however, have proven their abilities.
"Because of the level the girls were performing at they earnt the parents respect, so those sort of comments went away a little bit.
"So they did experience some disrespectful comments in one manner but actually turned it around to prove to parents of opposition teams that they were worthy of playing with their son and just as good as them."