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Women’s football leaders from 11 European national associations, all new to their roles, convened at UEFA HQ this week to learn more about the governing body’s work in developing the game.
Representatives from Czechia, France, Iceland, Kazakhstan, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Poland and San Marino came together in Nyon, Switzerland for a day of presentations and workshops designed to help them better understand the opportunities available to them in collaborating with UEFA to grow women’s football even further.
Discussions centred on technical development and coaching, grassroots football, marketing and communications, the UEFA HatTrick and Grow programmes, and an overview of competitions, which as of this month feature a new UEFA Women’s national team system with connected Nations League and European Qualifier formats.
“These are very important meetings and very helpful for our personal development and how we can contribute to the association when we go back,” said Jadranka Pavicevic, Football Association of Montenegro’s (FSCG) women’s football coordinator. “Just listening to these people who are setting the highest standards really motivates me to try to do this in our country.”
With a mix of national associations, each with their own targets and challenges, it was the perfect occasion for attendees to learn more about their colleagues and compare their challenges and opportunities.
“It’s so empowering to be in a room full of people working in women’s football and to share best practices and learnings with each other,” said Lucienne Reichardt, women’s football manager at the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB).
“In the coming years in the Netherlands, we are looking to double female representation and roles in coaching, administration and refereeing, and increase the number of active female players by 15 per cent to 155,000,” Reichardt explained. “It’s good to know that UEFA is there to help, and we will be able to use all of these topics and areas to help achieve our goals.”
