| It’s said that women’s football is the fastest growing female team sport. In England alone, the number of Ladies Football teams has increased 15 fold in the last 17 years. There are now 150,000 women playing competition affiliated football in England and 26 million female players worldwide. But there were also times when women who played football or had a desire to be a football player were discouraged. Football was considered as the game of men alone.
This boom in popularity comes from a time of suppression where the ladies game was under funded and largely ignored by the games governing bodies. The women were not considered as strong to bear the toughness of the game and perform under pressure and fatigue for longer hours in the field. Though the women’s game does not yet enjoy the same profile as its male counterpart, at grassroots level, the game couldn’t be stronger. Ladies football clubs and are thriving as clubs attract new players with their higher standards of coaching, largely sponsored by football governing bodies that now recognises the huge potential of the female game. Now the ladies football are organised and enjoyed with equal enthusiasm.
Women are not getting involved as players alone but they are also taking in the administrative fields. In England alone, over 16,000 females have attained a recognised Football Coaching qualification. Many of these coaches are working with young female players, who up until the age of 11/12, played alongside their male peers. At this age, when the physical strength between male and female becomes the differentiator rather than skills or tactical awareness, the boys and girls split and each focus on their own league and cup competitions.
At the age of 18, Girls Football evolves in to Women’s Football, and like with any sport, retaining the attention of players at this age can be difficult. Communication and engagement is key at this stage to keep players involved in the game. There is a new online service that helps football managers do this. www.canyouplayfootball.com allows managers to organise their team in seconds through the world’s first online personal football organiser. A two way messaging system automatically builds the managers team sheet based on player availability. It even chases players who don’t respond and tracks team and player performance throughout the season for analysis and end of season awards. And when it’s time for training, you can view a vast resource of free football coaching drills suitable for ladies football.
So if you need help organising your team or need to find some inspiration for your next training session to keep your players engaged and enthused, then it’s worth checking out www.canyouplayfootball.com. |
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