Accessibility

“Rather than focusing on the obstacle in your path, focus on the bridge over the obstacle.” – Mary Lou Retton.

We have started the work on our annual Women’s Football Business Report and the buzz word turned out to be accessibility. It wasn't set up this way; it happened naturally.?

The day after, I was on a call with a rightsholder having applied to a leadership course. The woman was very nice and I’ve hoped for a while now to take this course. The cost though is quite high for me. From the call I gathered I would be a welcome addition to the week-long course but I would have to cover all my costs to travel there, stay and the already high price tag. While I believe the course is worth the money, unfortunately I have participated in many courses recently and just cannot afford the price tag at the moment.?

And it made me come back to the word accessibility.?

We want more women in leadership roles. But how do they get there? We want more ex-players to have a seat at the decision table. But how do they get there? We have all heard of the pink tax and we succumbed to it during our careers and now post playing careers. How can we get to where we need to go if what we need isn’t always accessible??

I can’t imagine what it’s like for other women in other parts of the world where access is almost, if not, impossible. I could have been able to cover my travel. It was the course price that deterred me, but for other women the flight cost would be enough to have them click off the application page, let alone the course price.?

Not to mention accessibility from all parts of the pyramid. I love that we are getting more professional….. But what about the bottom of the pyramid? How are girls' academies developing? Are coaches being trained on the physical changes girls go through, not just their period but the mechanics of their body and so on.?

Being a woman in the world today is already an obstacle, being able to play football shouldn’t be another one of them. I will continue to work so that all girls and women have access to play the beautiful game. So, I ask: what will you do to Propel Women’s Football Forward?

Now that my rant is over and I’ve given you some things to think about, I’d like to highlight some organizations which, in my opinion, are doing it right:

The United Soccer League (USL) recently released their Step UP Strategy which I love! They have thought about the entire pathway to professionalism and how a girl takes that journey. They are building a professional league but also thinking about every aspect that goes into it. Who will be watching it and how do they get the opportunity to play? There is an academy system, a preprofessional league and finally a women’s professional league. It’s refreshing to see an organization really look at the pyramid and build a strategy that hits every level.?

Rwanda and Poland also released their strategies which I am very happy to see.?

Rwanda’s key elements were its 19 objectives and 109 action plans that will be implemented over the next four year cycle. Random unpolished numbers show that these are things they really thought about and now have a clearly defined plan to achieve them.?

Poland’s strategy focuses on 4 main pillars: participation, professionalization, visibility and image, and education and awareness. Each with quantifiable and measurable KPIs that will make it exciting to watch their progress. While Poland has never qualified for a major tournament - ?EUROs, World Cup or Olympic Games- they have produced incredible players like Ewa Pajor and Paulina Dudek to name a few. With a clear strategy I believe they will be qualifying in no time.?

Are there any strategies that you have come across recently that are propelling women's football forward? Let me know in the comments.