MX23RW : Saturday, February 8 21:07:27| >> :600:338267:338267:

Sue Campbell hopes BT Home Nations strategy can support growth in girls' game

BT have announced a new five-year football partnership strategy with the Home Nations.

The Football Association's director of women's football Baroness Sue Campbell hopes BT's 4-3-3 Home Nations strategy will ensure the next generation of girls taking up the sport have the volunteers to handle the growth.

Phil Neville led the England Women to the World Cup semi-finals last summer and it has resulted in a spike in participation for the women's game.

While that will hopefully produce even more Lionesses for the future, to do that volunteers are needed at grassroots level.

On Tuesday, BT announced a 4-3-3 Home Nations strategy which will use the power of football and technology to release the potential of para and disability, grassroots and women's football communities across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

A key part of the partnership will be BT bringing 50,000 new women directly into the grassroots eco-system via the FA Playmaker online course as well as offering bursaries and mentoring schemes for women wanting to progress in football.

Campbell said: "As the women's game has exploded, which it has, and we are seeing more and more girls coming into the game, our big challenge is we haven't got enough people to take care of them.

"All I am hearing is we have all these young girls coming to the club, but no people and if you put people on a level one coaching course, it is expensive, you have to give up a few days and you have to travel, which for people in local communities isn't always doable.

"The Playmaker, which is four-and-a-half hours if you study all five modules, gives you access to a course where you can become a safe and well organised volunteer pretty quickly. There is no good growing participation, we have to grow people to make it."

Recently the state of pitches in the Women's Super League has come under scrutiny with several postponements.

Campbell admitted the surfaces must be "equal to the incredible quality of the players we have now got" with investment set to occur into grass pitch improvements and 3G.

Ian Maxwell, CEO of the Scottish FA, said: "BT have some ambitious plans to combine football and technology to engage communities across the nation.

"Their goals for grassroots, girls' and women's and para-football dovetail perfectly with our own and we are excited at the opportunities our partnership with them holds for Scottish football."

A key goal for BT – in what is a five-year partnership – is to create closer football communities and opportunities through new digital and football skills initiatives.

The Football Association of Wales' chief executive Jonathan Ford added: "This is a fantastic opportunity to bring people on board and hopefully some of them will pick up a whistle, some will be a coach and some will be an administrator because not everyone can be on the field of play."

Patrick Nelson, Irish FA chief executive, said: "We have a 1,000 clubs in Northern Ireland.

"We know where they are and how to work with them, but what BT adds is a level of connectivity that we couldn't add in the first place.

"We won't solve it tomorrow, but I hope in five years time we will all be in a much better shape because of this partnership."

Aside from the FA Playmaker partnership, BT will combine the power of its technology, innovation and partnerships to inspire the next generation of disability players.

This footballing programme, one of the largest ever to run across the UK in partnership with the FA, Scottish FA, Irish FA and FA of Wales, is not linked to any Home Nations bid for the 2030 World Cup.

"It is not connected to the 2030 World Cup," BT's CEO of Consumer Division Marc Allera confirmed.

"We are used to long-term and prefer to work with partnerships on a long-term basis and who knows where this one will take us.

"The great news is this is all four Home Nations, it is a long-term partnership and we have set our some clear goals."

body check tags ::

Click here for more stories about Sue Campbell

Share this article now:
New Instagram promo
Wayne Rooney for Manchester United
Read Next:
Wayne Rooney's most memorable Manchester United moments ahead of FA Cup reunion
>
Sports Mole Logo
Enter your email address to subscribe to Sports Mole's free daily transfer newsletter! Sent twice a day during the transfer window.
Read more about Sue Campbell Football

rhs 2.0
Premier League
Championship
Six Nations
La Liga
Serie A
Bundesliga
Ligue 1
Eredivisie
Primeira Liga
Scottish Cup
League One
League Two
National League
Scottish Championship
Scottish League One
Scottish League Two
Turkish Super Lig
Belgian Pro League
Greek Superleague
Swiss Super League
NIFL Premiership
Welsh Premier League
Segunda Division
Serie B
2.Bundesliga
Ligue 2
Argentine Primera Division
Liga MX
Australian A-League
Super League
Tables
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool25241060154573
2Manchester CityMan City25163665293651
3Leicester CityLeicester25154654262849
4Chelsea2512584334941
5Tottenham HotspurSpurs2510784032837
6Sheffield UnitedSheff Utd259972623336
7Everton26106103438-436
8Manchester UnitedMan Utd259883629735
9Wolverhampton WanderersWolves2581163532335
10Arsenal2561363234-231
11Burnley2594122838-1031
12Newcastle UnitedNewcastle2587102436-1231
13Southampton2594123146-1531
14Crystal Palace2679102332-930
15Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton2669113138-727
16Bournemouth2575132538-1326
17Aston Villa2574143247-1525
18West Ham UnitedWest Ham2566133043-1324
19Watford2659122440-1624
20Norwich CityNorwich2546152447-2318

Subscribe to our Newsletter


Transfer Talk Daily
Match previews - twice weekly
Morning Briefing (7am UTC)
Ultra close-up image of Kevin De Bruyne [NOT FOR USE IN ARTICLES]Get the latest transfer news, match previews and news direct to your inbox!