The Her Game Too Training Centre

What is the Her Game Too Training Centre?

This gem of a training centre is a space where women, girls and all who may experience sexism in football may come and play football. Running on a monday evening in Cardiff, the training sessions aim to provide football as either an extra to, or instead of, regular team training.

In addition to football sessions, we set out to give something extra to our players. To date we have welcomed Rhian Wilkinson (Wales manager, 181 caps for Canada as well as Olympic Bronze in 2012 and 2016); Anita Asante (71 caps for England, U23 Lionesses coach, broadcaster and pundit); Laura O’Sullivan-Jones (Goalkeeper with 59 caps for Wales) as well as players from Cardiff City FC women’s first team. Our players, both young and old, have loved meeting these legends of the game.

You can find our website here.

Why did I set it up?

For a while, I’d had a vision of running some kind of ‘academy’ or training sessions for people who were as obsessed with having a ball at their feet as I was.

I’d played football across a wide range of levels, in England and Wales, from being ‘the girl who plays football’ as a child, to playing in the 1st XI at university, scoring against some of the best teams in Wales in the Adran set-up, and playing in the most casual of environments at Cardiff Dragons.

In my mid-20s, I realised there wasn’t much (anything) out there for women who wanted to play more football. There were opportunities if you were below 18 and of a certain standard, but nothing for if you were 25, 35, 45 and still wanted to play more than once a week.

So, my partner and I approached Her Game Too, the anti-sexism campaign, with the idea of setting up a training centre. We wanted to align with the campaign, as I realised they were doing great work for fans but there was no provision by the campaign for players.

The training centre donates a significant portion of profits to the campaign, in line with our social values.

Who is it for?

The Her Game Too training centre is for all women and girls, from aged 4 and upwards. Our youngest players are 4, and our oldest is in her sixties! We have both beginner sessions and intermediate sessions, outfield sessions and goalkeeper sessions.

Half of our coaches come from an inclusion background, where they are used to coaching in inclusive environments such as Cardiff Dragons FC, while the rest of our coaches play at a high level, either in Adran teams or the Wales youth set-up. This blend of experience and approach means that we are able to cater to the wide range of needs that players may come with.

One of our core principles is that no-one should be excluded from sport for financial reasons. So, the training centre is located in Butetown, in a city centre location within walking distance of central Cardiff and Cardiff Bay. In addition to this, if a player cannot afford the regular fee, she is offered either a partially or fully subsidised place.

We have found that by being financially accessible, our sessions are enhanced by having these subsidised places.