UEFA welcomes Disney and Pixar’s Inside Out 2 to UEFA Playmakers
Friday, June 7, 2024
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The highly anticipated new movie joins the UEFA Playmakers programme to inspire a love of football among young girls across Europe.
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Since launching in 2020, UEFA Playmakers inspired by Disney has provided opportunities for thousands of young girls across Europe to experience the joy of football for the first time, using the magic of Disney storytelling.
This summer, Disney and Pixar’s newest film – Inside Out 2 – will join UEFA Playmakers, with the story of Riley and her emotions providing the perfect platform for girls to engage with their own feelings through Playmakers.
The sequel to the much-loved Inside Out, Inside Out 2 will be in cinemas across Europe from 14 June and returns to the mind of newly minted teenager Riley just as Headquarters is undergoing a sudden demolition to make room for something entirely unexpected: new Emotions.
Inside Out 2 becomes the latest film to join UEFA Playmakers, alongside Disney’s Academy Award-winning animated musical comedy Encanto, Disney and Pixar’s The Incredibles 2, Disney’s Frozen 2 and Disney’s Moana. This is the first time that UEFA has added a film to UEFA Playmakers to coincide with its release. This comes as a result of the strong collaboration between UEFA and Disney since the programme launched in 2020.
UEFA Playmakers provides a safe, non-competitive environment for girls to develop their fundamental movement skills and self-esteem.
To celebrate the launch of the film, two girls from Wales – Sophia and Esther (both aged 9) – who have taken part in UEFA Playmakers, met Amy Poehler (voice of Joy) to share their Playmakers experience and their shared love of football.
“It is really exciting to welcome a brand-new Disney and Pixar film into UEFA Playmakers with Inside Out 2. We would like to thank Disney and Pixar for their constant partnership in helping take UEFA Playmakers to the next level. Inside Out, with a story that celebrates embracing our emotions, is the perfect partner for UEFA Playmakers. I am looking forward to hearing the reactions of girls, parents and coaches all across Europe.”
“UEFA Playmakers inspired by Disney continues to grow and flourish all across Europe, using our strong female characters like Riley to be a force for good, inspiring families and children to get more active and to kick start a love of football. So it’s fantastic to see the programme also play such a key role in the launch of Disney and Pixar’s Inside Out 2 in cinemas. The positive feelings girls, parents and coaches get from taking part in the programme makes the world of Joy and her friends in Inside Out 2 the perfect fit for this collaboration.”
Playmakers in numbers
UEFA Playmakers sessions are now held in 47 European national associations in over 5,000 locations. More than 93,200 girls have taken part in the programme, which has trained over 6,600 UEFA Playmakers coaches.
Countries taking part in the UEFA Playmakers programme
Seven countries were part of the initial pilot phase in February 2020: Austria, Belgium, Norway, Poland, Romania, Scotland and Serbia.
In less than four years, an additional 40 countries have joined the programme: Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Estonia, Finland, Faroe Islands, Georgia, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Russia, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye, Ukraine, Wales.
Note to media
Media interested in learning more about UEFA Playmakers can visit www.uefa.com/playmakers.
