Following calls from Wokingham Borough Conservatives for football to be equally available to girls and boys in local schools, the Government has announced a new standard to ensure just that.
The Government made the announcement on International Women’s Day (8th March) setting out new standards for equal access to sports in England.
In January this year, a Conservative motion called on the Council to ensure girls in the Borough have the opportunity to play football at school. The motion was passed, with only Labour refusing to vote for it.
Along with the new guidance for PE and extracurricular sport, extra funding was announced by the Government. This includes £600 million across the next two years for the PE and Sport Premium, to improve the quality of PE and sports in primary schools to help children benefit from regular activity.
This follows the success of England’s Lionesses last Summer and their campaign to create equal opportunities for girls and women to play football.
Cllr Rebecca Margetts who proposed the motion at a meeting of the Council on 19th January said, “The success of the Lionesses in the Summer shone a spotlight on women’s sport. Since then, we have seen locally, and across the country, a growing up take of women and girls football. This is fantastic for the future of the game and for the health benefits sport brings. It was only right that boys and girls have the same opportunities to play sport.”
Cllr Pauline Jorgensen, Leader of the Conservative Group said, “We all saw the success of England’s Women’s team. Yet some of the players have talked about the difficulties they have faced and the lack of opportunity to play football when they were young. They want to make football more accessible for future generations of girls – and why not?
“This shouldn’t be the case for girls going forward and I am pleased that the Government has announced these new standards and funding.
“I was disappointed that our motion to ensure football for girls in Wokingham was not supported by the Labour Group. I didn’t think equal opportunities for women and girls would be so contentious for them."
