No limits for women footballers

By Mark Chaplin

The grassroots work being undertaken by UEFA and the European football family includes a concerted effort to recruit girls and women to play the game.

Massive development
Karen Espelund, the general secretary of the Norwegian Football Association and chairwoman of the UEFA Women's Football Committee, says that the female game will continue its massive development as long as Europe's associations pay attention to getting players involved in the sport as young as possible.

Girls involved
"Women's football has definitely come a long way," she said. "The fact is that more girls play, and they have been playing since they were very young. The structures in the federations are better - girls play league games from the age of ten to 12. UEFA has also introduced a competition structure for national teams to help them prepare in every way."

UEFA push
UEFA has decided to give considerable emphasis to the women's game. In addition to its three women's competitions - the UEFA European Women's Championship, the UEFA European Women's Under-19 Championship and the UEFA Women's Cup for club teams - the European body has moved its women's football operations into the professional football and marketing department to maximise the women's game's commercial and sporting potential.

Growing sector
"Women's and girls' football could be the fastest-growing part of European football," Espelund explained. "The potential is huge, and we see this in countries like Sweden and Germany which have huge grassroots activities. UEFA has acknowledged this potential, and we are seeing huge media interest - we noticed the difference after the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup final [between Germany and Sweden]. The TV channels seem to have woken up to women's football."

Another level
It is no surprise that Espelund cites Sweden and Germany as standing at the vanguard of European women's football. The work done in these two countries, as well as in other pioneering associations, has lifted the women's sector on to another level in terms of training, tactics and technical expertise. A major task now facing UEFA and the European football family is to narrow the gap between the major women's nations and the others, many of whom are still developing their structures.

Grassroots work
"UEFA can help by putting the women's game into its grassroots work," Espelund continued. "And we know that in parts of Europe, there is still no emphasis on recruiting girls to play football. In countries like Sweden, women's and girls' activities have been running for some 30 years - girls have the same opportunities as boys to play at ten to 12 years of age. We need to keep up the work at grassroots level."

English event
The forthcoming UEFA WOMEN'S EURO 2005™ finals in England this summer will give women's football another welcome shot in the arm. It was clear that the last Women's World Cup captured the imagination of many people, who were perhaps surprised to see the levels of skill and tactical sophistication among the élite players.

Football country
"England is a real football country," said Espelund. "It obviously has a big tradition with the men's game, but at EURO '96™, the English Football Association also ran a campaign to recruit girl players and it was a huge success. The FA has been working very well for many years in recruiting players, so I hope that the championship will promote both the work that is being done in England as well as in the rest of Europe."