Over half of women believe there are barriers to participating in Manx football, with 68% saying they don’t get equal opportunities to train and play.
The Isle of Man FA’s new four year business strategy has been published and outlines the issues and failings that were found in its recent survey.
That survey also found that 58% of women believe women and girls do not get equal access to kit, equipment and club volunteer support and a higher proportion said they had experienced discrimination or offensive behaviour.
To seek to improve this, the FA has set down its goals to improve both access In schools and in the wider women’s game.
Improvements
In its 2024 to 2028 strategy, the island’s FA says it wants to “maximise and replicate team attendance at IOMFA Girls Primary School Festivals with boys school festivals”.
It also wants to replicate the boys IOMFA secondary schools football finals offer and leverage its Youth Leadership Programme to promote girls football activity in secondary schools.
Furthermore, it plans to roll out the Barclays Girls Football School Partnership to primary schools and secondary schools, expand wildcats programme to North, East, South and West of the island and explore an IOMFA School Partnership Community Coach Programme to deliver breakfast/lunchtime/or after school clubs to establish strong school-club links.
The Now
The Manx FA says it has 827 female players registered and 60 teams, but does not give any details about age ranges in its plan.
It is widely acknowledged that despite the successes of the island’s women’s team in events such as the Cherry Godfrey Cup over the summer, the local game is not in a good state with a lack of any possibilities for teenage girls to stay in the game and a drop in number and standards in the senior women’s game.
While growing the women’s game for the future is key to the long-term success, the Manx FA says it will also look to address some current issues.
This will see a review of the current facilities women and girls’ fixtures are held. The survey found that higher proportion of females than males rate changing room quality and suitable toilet facilities as a problem for current players.
The FA will also seek to “collaborate with IOM Media to increase visibility of women and girls playing in media and reporting”, create a start to finish group for youth to adult female transition, explore a Women’s Fan Group and explore ways to make cup finals family friendly events.
It said that it will measure its success on this in part by attendance at women’s cup finals and data gathered from focus groups.
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