Location and general information
Access to Sport - 
Gender Equality - 
Personal developmentContext
In Poland, the biggest social problem faced in football is unequal representation and access, with far fewer women playing and coaching than men. In 2020, only 23,578 of the country’s 414,217 players were women, and only one of the 12 top-tier women's teams has a female manager. From an early age, children learn that football is for boys, and this stereotype is reinforced at school.
The Polish Football Association found that only 7% of female players started playing at school. It has therefore made working with schools to get more girls involved in football a key objective of its strategy for women's football.
Project goals
- Work with the Polish Football Association to get more girls and women involved in football, including in schools
- Raise awareness among primary school teachers across Poland about the power of football3 to promote equal access to sport for children
- Train at least 600 teachers to become football3 mediators and trainers
- Make girls and female teachers role models or ‘football3 changemakers’, laying the foundations for grassroots children’s football in Poland
Project content
The project works closely with the Polish Football Association and primary school teachers, 99% of whom are women. It will offer in-person training on the football3 programme in 13 regions of Poland as well as an online course, with a view to evaluating and certifying at least 600 female primary school teachers.
Each teacher trained will deliver football3 sessions to boys and girls aged 7–9, teaching them to play together from an early age. By setting the rules of the game together and awarding each other ‘super power points’, the children will learn to cooperate, respect and empathise with one another regardless of gender.
In addition, football3 changemakers tournaments will be held in each of the 13 regions, followed by a final gala, designed to promote equal access to football for everyone.
Partners
