POWERING GIRL’S FOOTBALL IN LONDON

In the last few years everything concerned with the women’s game has increased exponentially: the quality, funding, pathways, participation and spectatorship. Suddenly it’s not Messi and Ronaldo who our young female ballers idolise, it’s Megan Rapinoe, Alex Morgan, Vivianne Miedema, Ellen White, Lucy Bronze, Fara Williams, Samantha Kerr and Alex Scott. And that’s why we at Bloomsbury Football, with enormous thanks to Super 5 League and Nike, as well as our very own Maria Hasler, are hugely proud to announce the launch of the Girls Super League (GSL).

The league, beginning September 2021, is an unbelievable opportunity for girls aged 7-15 to compete in a fun, inclusive and competitive environment, and will run on Saturdays from a centralised venue in London, combatting the problems facing the women’s game around pitch availability, refereeing quality and standardisation of games. Starting January 2021, the GSL is also hosting a series of tournaments for girls aged 7-15, and teams that want to enter can register their interest on the website.

Launching the GSL; creating a hub for girls football, will resolve the difficulty of girls not being able to find competitive games easily. Generous funding from our partners Nike, has meant that participating teams will be able to benefit from heavily subsidised places within the league, which in turn will make it financially accessible for participants.

 The GSL will undoubtedly benefit those from minority groups and low socio-economic backgrounds, which is why we’re extremely thankful to our key partners Super 5 League and Nike for the support in setting up and running the league. It’s highly important that global, prestigious and reputable brands like Nike continue to aid the work of charities such as ourselves, as without their help, it would be far more difficult to not only conceive such a brilliant creation like the GSL, but to raise awareness and fight the issues of inequality within sport which girls face today.

Our affiliation with Nike has opened a multitude of avenues for the league; most notably gaining the support of Manchester City and England superstar, Chloe Kelly: “I want to support the growth of the women’s and girl’s game to show that football is truly for all. To help achieve this, we must provide more opportunities for girls to play and so, I am excited to announce the launch of The Girls Super League in my home city of London”. The former Everton and Arsenal WSL forward will act as an ambassador for the league, championing the opportunities it will provide for females in London. Having such a high profile, high-flying athlete personifying the good work we’re doing, will significantly boost the momentum of the league, and also symbolises the spiking proliferation of the women’s game and the strength of our partnership with Nike.

At Bloomsbury, we use the power of football to improve the lives of young people in London, and now, our young aspiring female ballers have the platform and opportunity of the capital to use that power of football, showcase their talent and love for the beautiful game, no longer held back by socio-economic barriers.

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