This weekend This Fan Girl and Kitlocker.com welcomed almost 200 women and girls to play at St George’s Park, the home of England Football for their first ever grassroots tournament – Having A Ball. Women’s grassroots football has seen an explosion in participation following the Women’s World Cup in 2019, with numbers of women playing higher than they’ve been in any previous generation.
Supported by Nike, this year’s tournament saw teams come from all corners of the UK including Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, Glasgow, London, Leicester and Norwich – with Grenfell Athletic lifting the Winners trophy, Saltley Stallions taking the runners up, and Lincoln United winning the u14s.
Amy Drucquer, Founder, This Fan Girl:
“Organisations like Super 5 League and Coats and Goalposts do such incredible work to bring together teams in London to play together on a regular basis – but if you’re playing grassroots football outside of the capital, you might not have that built in network of teams to play against, and miss out on some of the opportunities that being in London provides. As much as Having A Ball was a celebration of grassroots and the incredible teams from across all corners of the UK, it was also a chance for teams to strengthen their own connections in the women’s football community”.
Oli Brierley, Kitlocker:
“In what was a first for both Kitlocker and This Fan Girl, we went into this event with a combination of enthusiasm, excitement and nervousness. After plenty of calls, Zooms and Whatsapps, Having a Ball was actually happening, with over 400 people coming through the doors at St Georges Park as players and spectators.
We know first hand how important girls and womens participation in sport is, for both mental and physical well being. Being able to host an event to celebrate the thriving nature of the game is an incredible feeling – and we want to thank all of the coaches that volunteer their time. Without them, girls don’t have football teams, and without football teams they lose out on sport, new friends and occasions like this.
We’ve created memories for customers, friends and stakeholders that’ll last a lifetime in their grassroots football careers. Something that we hope will be talking about for years to come.”
