INCLUSIVE & INSPIRATIONAL with FOTMOB

INCLUSIVE&INSPIRATIONALWITHFOTMOB:

WINTER FEST

In each issue, FotMob - the livescore app - are sponsoring a feature on inclusive and inspirational grassroots stories and assisting in their development by providing equipment vouchers to these special football clubs.

Sheffield FA recently delivered a women’s football festival called Winter Fest to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the lifting of the ban on women’s football with over forty players participating from a wide variety of backgrounds.

Born out of a conversation during a women’s recreational football forum and with December 5th 2021 being 100 years to the day since women’s football was banned on FA affiliated pitches, it was time to recognise the past and celebrate the future of Sheffield’s developing women’s football scene.

Winter Fest was specifically aimed at women aged eighteen and over and those that were not currently registered for an eleven-a-side team, with the focus on the spirit of recreational football. Offering those that don’t often have the opportunity to play in a safe, non-competitive environment the chance to meet other groups and teams. Sheffield had also not previously hosted a recreational tournament for women.

Taking place at St. George’s Park Thorncliffe alongside their Christmas market, Sheffield FA partnered with the Stoppage Time Project to create an exhibition during the festival displaying stories and clips of women in football in and around Sheffield and Rotherham over the last 100 years, donating all proceeds from team entry to the project to help it to continue its great work.

The festival drew out teams and groups that hadn’t worked with or heard about each other before. They supplied fifteen hijabs to their participants and ensured the venue had a safe space for a group to have a prayer room and managed the fixtures around prayer times.

Referees on the day were briefed to manage the game in the spirit of recreational football and coach the players through the game as much as possible. Players felt comfortable and confident enough to ask for changes in the rules game by game in agreement with their opposing team, and players truly felt like this was their festival.

A celebration was held at the end of the tournament, bringing all teams together and celebrating what they had achieved and been a part of over the matches, before enjoying a social with food and drink, and the Women’s FA Cup Final. A perfect day to showcase the beautiful game at its best.

“To see forty women from across South Yorkshire come out and play together on a cold December day was incredible,” says one Winter Fest participant. “There were so many stories and memories created on the day, from one woman having never played in goal before and then diving around by game three and setting up her teammate for a goal, to seeing teams congratulating an opposition player for a great goal or tackle. One team manager gave the referee her coat to keep her warm, as well as the roar of celebration when a group of Muslim women who had only been playing football for five weeks, won the most spirited award. All in all, the future looks bright, supportive and empowering for women’s recreational football.’’ TGP

FotMob is the essential football app. Scores, stats, news and more. Get the app on iOS and Android.