Lionesses write powerful open letter to future Prime Minister
The English women's football team want all girls to have access to football in schools
The English women's football team want all girls to have access to football in schools
Who can forget the Lionesses’ triumphant (and history-making) win at the Women’s Euro 2022 final on Sunday? Nope, certainly not us. Cheered on by the likes of David Beckham and Marcus Rashford, the women's national football team brought home the European title and won the public’s hearts, making a national hero out of squad member Chloe Kelly who scored England’s winning goal versus Germany in extra time.
But even after this huge success, the team have their eyes firmly fixed on what's to come— namely, in levelling up access to football for the next generation. On 3 August, all 23 members of the squad signed an open letter to Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss (the two remaining candidates in the race to become the next UK Prime Minister) in which they make an appeal for “every young girl in the nation to be able to play football at school”.
Published to the official Lionesses Instagram and Twitter accounts, the letter goes on to ask that all girls are able to access two hours a week of PE lessons and requests that the next PM put resources towards supporting female PE teachers to not only deliver these lessons but provide the inspiration for young girls to become interested in football.
After citing the worrying statistics, collected by the English FA, that only 63% of schools offer girls football in PE, the letter points towards the barriers which the squad faced — and overcame — themselves when growing up. “We were often stopped from playing. So we made our own teams, we travelled across the country and, despite the odds, we just kept playing football.”
The heart-warming letter continues, going on to paint an image of a brighter future. “This generation of school girls deserves more. They deserve to play football at lunchtime, they deserve to play football in PE lessons and they deserve to believe they can one day play for England.”
With female athletes like Ramla Ali and our very own Lionesses pushing for greater gender equality in women’s sport in the UK, we can only hope that the change we’re all looking for is on the horizon.
Check out the Lionesses' full statement below.
