With the success of the Lionesses, there is more demand than ever for women and girls to get involved in football. As females face unique barriers in participating, coaching, refereeing and volunteering in all formats of football, we must take proactive steps to create environments where women and girls thrive.
Equal Game is an England Football initiative that supports clubs to develop their female provision through an online toolkit, free in person local workshops and bespoke support.
FA Walking Football Cup inaugural winners Godalming Walking Football Club have recently committed to starting a women’s section and looked for guidance on how to do this. They found Surrey FA’s Equal Game workshop was the perfect opportunity to get ideas and network with other clubs to understand more about how they could best support female participants.
We heard from Glenn and Marguerite from Godalming WFC about their experience at the Equal Game workshop.
- How would you describe your experience of an Equal Game workshop?
It was a well structured and professionally run workshop. It was great to make connections with other clubs and gain ideas to take back and implement. We learned a lot about how to best recruit new players, attracting sponsors, and factors to consider within facilities and player health for women.
- What were your key takeaways to support your walking football club?
Using personal connections for recruitment, adding social element to sessions to attract more women e.g. nice walk & coffee, finding a sponsor that believes in community and women’s health and keep stretching!
- What are your next steps in improving your female provision within your walking football club?
We are conducting a full discussion at the next committee meeting to get a commitment on our next steps on the various topics brought up at the workshop. We have asked all committee members to think about plans for the next 1/3/5 years to make sure we are aligned in delivering what the women need from walking football.
- What would you say to other walking football clubs who want to improve their female provision?
Attending the Equal Game workshop would be a good start as it would highlight areas that they would not have thought of. It would make you think about having a plan in place as numbers increase and ensure a positive experience for all.
We are at the beginning of this journey. But so far so good.
For the 2025/26 season, Equal Game has a new Female Player Health & Wellbeing module. It looks at how football can support women at different life stages with walking football being a brilliant tool.
As a player, Marguerite said “Walking Football is great for the Menopause, because at this stage you can gain a bunch of weight, struggle sleeping and have a ton of emotional changes every day. I simply enjoy not thinking about any of those issues in a match. And just focusing, planning my next space, intersection, shot, defence or tactic.”
Equal Game workshops are taking place all over the country at local County FAs. You can also access the online toolkit available to all.
Find out more about Equal Game and how to get involved here: Equal Game - Guide to Developing Female Walking Football