MDX London City Lionesses increase grassroots girls’ football
MDX joins forces with London City Lionesses and Spotify to increase grassroots participation in girls’ football
22/05/2023
New campaign will offer free football training sessions to 600 girls around Barnet to improve access to the beautiful game
‘She Plays Football’ is a new collaboration between Spotify, London City Lionesses and Powerleague to provide 90-minute football training sessions every weekday from 4pm-7pm at Powerleague in Barnet.
All training will be conducted by professional coaches along with special appearances from London City Lionesses’ players Karin Muya, Charlotte Fleming, Hermione Cull, Lily Agg and Atlanta Primus, with facilities being provided in partnership with MDX and the London Sports Institute.
The campaign will also work with local schools to identify and highlight where girls in the community are underserved most in the sport.
Some of the girls from the community training programme will also be given the chance to play in a weekly mini-league tournament held at the Emirates Stadium every Sunday until July 16.
To culminate the summer’s activities, London City Lionesses will introduce ‘London City Strikers’ on September 4, where a series of teams for players aged 7-12 will be able to play in both the London Capital Girls League and / or the National Junior Premier League for the 2023/24 season.
Earlier this year, the UK government announced it will provide all schoolgirls with equal access to football following the Lionesses’ open letter to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. The letter was signed by all 23 players just days after their historic Euros wins last summer, and voiced the squad’s collective belief on how to ensure that boys and girls enjoy the same level of access to sport in school.
Schools that successfully deliver a minimum of two hours of PE per week will be rewarded through the School Games Mark, but still only 46% of schools provide the same extracurricular opportunities to boys – which is why Spotify’s partnership with London City Lionesses is so important.
Dr. Rhonda Cohen, Head of the London Sport Institute, said MDX was delighted to be involved in the initiative and stressed both the physiological and psychological importance of girls participating in sport.
“Girls who engage in sport tend to have high levels of confidence as well as self-esteem,” she said.
“The LSI, a vibrant academic department, now located at Stone X stadium at Saracens, has worked with the Lionesses since 2020, a collaboration which gives the club’s top professional players and coaches access to high quality sports exercise and rehabilitative science designed to enhance performance.”
Young football players accessing Spotify’s upcoming campaign will also be given the opportunity to experience a range of foundational football related training to help them prepare a future in the sport. From strength and conditioning, nutrition workshops and mental performance-based activities, young girls will be given the tools they need to enjoy the game to the fullest.
MDX joins forces with London City Lionesses and Spotify to increase grassroots participation in girls’ football
‘She Plays Football’ is a new collaboration between Spotify, London City Lionesses and Powerleague to provide 90-minute football training sessions every weekday from 4pm-7pm at Powerleague in Barnet.
All training will be conducted by professional coaches along with special appearances from London City Lionesses’ players Karin Muya, Charlotte Fleming, Hermione Cull, Lily Agg and Atlanta Primus, with facilities being provided in partnership with MDX and the London Sports Institute.
The campaign will also work with local schools to identify and highlight where girls in the community are underserved most in the sport.
Some of the girls from the community training programme will also be given the chance to play in a weekly mini-league tournament held at the Emirates Stadium every Sunday until July 16.
To culminate the summer’s activities, London City Lionesses will introduce ‘London City Strikers’ on September 4, where a series of teams for players aged 7-12 will be able to play in both the London Capital Girls League and / or the National Junior Premier League for the 2023/24 season.
Earlier this year, the UK government announced it will provide all schoolgirls with equal access to football following the Lionesses’ open letter to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. The letter was signed by all 23 players just days after their historic Euros wins last summer, and voiced the squad’s collective belief on how to ensure that boys and girls enjoy the same level of access to sport in school.
Schools that successfully deliver a minimum of two hours of PE per week will be rewarded through the School Games Mark, but still only 46% of schools provide the same extracurricular opportunities to boys – which is why Spotify’s partnership with London City Lionesses is so important.
Dr. Rhonda Cohen, Head of the London Sport Institute, said MDX was delighted to be involved in the initiative and stressed both the physiological and psychological importance of girls participating in sport.
“Girls who engage in sport tend to have high levels of confidence as well as self-esteem,” she said.
“The LSI, a vibrant academic department, now located at Stone X stadium at Saracens, has worked with the Lionesses since 2020, a collaboration which gives the club’s top professional players and coaches access to high quality sports exercise and rehabilitative science designed to enhance performance.”
Young football players accessing Spotify’s upcoming campaign will also be given the opportunity to experience a range of foundational football related training to help them prepare a future in the sport. From strength and conditioning, nutrition workshops and mental performance-based activities, young girls will be given the tools they need to enjoy the game to the fullest.
To sign up go to: sheplaysfootball.com/spotify.
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