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Girls across Europe are falling in love with football thanks to the UEFA Playmakers programme.
A recent survey has shown that 91 per cent of Playmakers participants want to continue playing the game following a fun-filled introduction that combines basic football sessions with the magic of Disney.
Almost 40,000 girls aged from five to eight have now taken part in the Playmakers programme. The adventure started back in 2020 with pilot national associations getting involved during the pandemic. Despite the health context, Playmakers continued to be rolled-out in countries where playing was possible and generated great enthusiasm both from parents and their daughters. Once the return to play was confirmed, many UEFA member national associations expressed their interest to enrol in the programme and today, 30 European countries have implemented it and 14 more will roll it out by the end of 2022.
Sessions teach important fundamental movement and life skills, create friendships and build confidence in girls by using Disney movies like Frozen II and The Incredibles 2 to provide a fun and safe introduction to learning football. Using their imagination and diving into the magic of Disney storytelling, girls are encouraged to reveal their inner Elsa or Violet and play football through themed exercises using elements of Disney stories.
Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, with the huge majority of girls wanting to continue playing football at the end of their 10 Playmakers sessions, which last between 45 minutes and one hour each, despite most having never experienced the game before.
The programme has proved equally popular with parents, with 94 per cent recommending it to others, and more than 70 per cent actively encouraging their daughters to stay involved with the sport.
A crucial element of the programme’s success has been offering the opportunity to discover the game in a non-competitive, girls-only environment. Playmakers is a safe space where the girls can gain self-confidence and fall in love with the game.
As a result of the activity-based sessions, Playmakers has also attracted a different profile of coach – 3,745 ‘deliverers’ have been trained to lead the programme, 63 per cent of which are women, and 39 per cent who had not previously been involved with football.
