Why we’re glad the narrative in sports is changing - but there’s still a long way to go.
Beyoncé said it first - who runs the world? GIRLS. After almost 60 years of waiting for England to bring home a winners trophy for a major football tournament - the Lionesses did just that on Sunday night in a nail-biting final against Germany in the European Championship.
But what's a little bit of a shock to find out is that the FA banned women's football in the 1920s for FIFTY-ONE YEARS. While the sport's governing body did not have the power to ban women from playing outright – that was impossible, so instead, they ruled that women's games weren't allowed to be played at FA-affiliated football grounds. Despite its popularity and record-breaking spectator numbers, this was the ruling (RUDE)
In a statement, The FA's Consultative Committee's ruling stated:
"Complaints having been made as to football being played by women, Council felt impelled to express the strong opinion that the game of football is quite unsuitable for females and should not be encouraged..."
Did you know…?
England didn't have a fully professional women's football league until 2018. That's FOUR YEARS AGO.
It's pretty staggering but not necessarily surprising that, as women, we weren't able to have the same opportunities as our male counterparts in the same sport. Because of that, the game of women's football is decades, if not a century, behind the men's game that has dominated society for SO long.
That's why now more than ever, there's a focus on grassroots activities - so younger generations can get involved in sports that might have seemed elusive to them in the past.
Grassroots is what we do best at StrongHer.
While we're not working with the youngest generations you'd ordinarily see in sports with a grassroots programme; we see StrongHer in the same way - as a starting block and a pathway into strength training for women who would never have even considered picking up a barbell.
Tig, StrongHer co-founder, gave us her thoughts after the game: "Seeing the win on Sunday for the Lionesses was just EPIC! It just made me even more passionate about helping women become their best selves and breaking down barriers in strength training for women. We've worked with more than 700 members in our Warrior Programme, designed to provide effective, fun, and individualised programmes. The results speak for themselves."
Sam, StrongHer co-founder, says: 'We see the impact that strength training can have on our members. It's one of the reasons we started StrongHer back in 2017. It's been great to see our Warriors progress from having never lifted a barbell in lockdown to competing in Turf Games this year. But proud doesn't even cut it."
We KNOW there’s more we can do and by opening our second space - for gym only members in September, we’re looking forward to welcoming more people at the very start of their strength training journey.
Ready to start your StrongHer journey?
We’re excited for you to become part of the StrongHerd (our fabulous community). Check out all the membership options here.