August 20th 2023.
As millions of fans around the world come together to cheer on the Lionesses in their upcoming match against Spain, former footballer Rachel Yankey is reflecting on her own journey through the women's game. She is part of a group of trailblazers, such as England's Rachel Yankey, Fara Williams, and Kelly Smith, who helped inspire the current pack of Lionesses and paved the way for the success we see today.
Yankey told The Agency, “It’s just the ultimate pride that you are one of the best within England. When I was playing, I don’t think I really understood the role that you play as a footballer. The amount of people that told me that I was one of the first footballers that they related to – the fact that I was woman playing football, the colour of my skin, the way I wore my hair – all these different things that resonated with different people that I didn’t know. For me, I was just playing football. Being able to put the shirt on, playing in front of the fans, to show your talent and make people cheer is something pretty special.”
Now, Yankey is an advocate for growing the grassroots level of the women's game to ensure people from all backgrounds can play. She even had to drastically cut her hair short and call herself ‘Ray’ so she could play football at a younger age. She is currently working with Nuffield Health to foster change for future Lionesses.
Recent findings from Nuffield Health revealed that almost one in five (17%) young girls say they don’t like P.E in school and 44% of parents have admitted to making an excuse to get their daughters out of sports lessons. These barriers include enjoyment, confidence, safety and variation. To help combat these issues, Yankey has showed her support for Nuffield Health’s new Move Together initiative, a programme designed to get more 11–16-year-old girls moving and engaged with physical activity in local parks and community venues.
To any girls or women lacing up their trainers for the first time, Yankey’s advice is to enjoy it. She said, “I would say […] just to enjoy it. I think that sport, whichever sport you play, if you haven’t got a smile on your face when you’re doing it, then there’s a problem. I think you want to get out there, you want to just have fun. It doesn’t matter whether you kick the ball and you do it wrong. If you keep practising, and practising, at some point, you’ll find the right ways to do things.”
For more information on Nuffield Health’s Move Together initiative and The FA’s ‘The Greater Game’ programme, click here.
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