Page 3 - Women's Soccer Scene Issue No.28 2021-22 (2)

Initiative launched in Wales

Girls across Wales are being encouraged to kick start a
lifelong love of football through a ground-breaking
Playmakers football programme from UEFA and
Disney.
Using Disney’s world-renowned storytelling
and inspired by academic research showing the
positive role of storytelling in helping children take up
sport, Playmakers aims to increase the proportion of
girls meeting the World Health Organization’s
minimum standards for physical activity – currently,
just 16%.
Targeting 5-8 year-old girls not currently
playing football, Wales is joining UEFA in committing
to roll out Playmakers through primary schools, and
local communities. Unlike traditional football programmes, each of Playmaker’s ten initial training
sessions follow the narrative of billion-dollar global box office smash hits like Disney’s Frozen II
and Disney and Pixar’s Incredibles 2. Equipped with footballs, bibs and cones, trained teachers
encourage participants to play the roles of popular characters, such as Elastigirl and Elsa and
Anna, bringing the films’ action scenes to life through movement, teamwork and their imagination.
FAW Head of Women and Girls Football, Lowri Roberts explained: “Our women’s football
strategy Our Wales: For Her is based on our vision to inspire confidence in women and girls to be
their best self, and confidence is certainly something we see in abundance in these young girls
participating in today’s launch event at Thornhill primary school. Disney Playmakers is the
innovative initiative we need to get new girls into the game and ensure their first experience in the
game is a positive one filled with fun and smiles!”
In its early sessions, Playmakers focuses on building girls’ confidence in their movement,
encouraging creative thinking and communicating easily with their friends. Later sessions
introduce girls to basic football skills, but the programme continues to put the emphasis on making
sport fun.
Emma Salmoni, Teacher Ambassador (Thornhill Primary School), said: “I love football and
have always wanted to encourage young girls into the game, I’ve never felt confident enough to
coach a team and the Disney Playmakers training really helped develop my confidence to deliver a
fun football programme for the girls in Thornhill primary school and ensure that we were
providing just as many opportunities for the girls as we were the boys. Nearly every girl in year 3
is attending the session weekly.”
Playmakers represents a first step toward achieving one of the main goals of “Time for
Action” the UEFA Women’s Football Strategy – to double girls’ and women’s participation in
football by 2024.
“If you’re going to teach football through the power of storytelling and play, you have to do
it with the best stories and characters in the world, and Disney is the perfect partner for this,” said
Nadine Kessler, UEFA Chief of Women’s Football.
“It is UEFA’s duty as European football’s governing body to empower girls to play the
game,” added UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin. “Through this partnership with Disney, we will
open up football to an audience not yet engaged with our sport.”
The FAW Trust will be working with primary schools to deliver the programme across the
country. During the Winter Term 2021, 13 schools successfully took part in a programme pilot
across Wrexham and Cardiff. In addition to this, The FAW Trust are also excited to announce that
26 NEW schools have completed their training, resulting in 39 schools delivering UEFA Disney
Playmakers across Wales in Year One of delivery.
Schools and Local Authorities can express an interest in joining the programme by
contacting National Girls Participation and Engagement Manager, Bethan Woolley on
bethan@fawtrust.cymru.
Issue no. 28 - 31 March 2022 news@womenssoccerscene.co.uk