FA and Barclays launch Made for This Game school initiative to tackle barriers

The Football Association and Barclays have launched a new national education initiative designed to address social and cultural barriers that continue to limit girls’ participation in school football.The programme, ‘Made for This Game: Breaking Barriers’, will distribute classroom resources to primary and secondary schools across England, with content intended to help pupils and teachers discuss issues including gender bias and body confidence.Sue Day MBE, the FA’s director of women’s football, said: “We cannot ignore the fact that societal pressures are threatening to slow the excellent progress that’s been made over the last few years. By starting these conversations for girls and boys in their formative years, I hope we can help to develop a generation of girls who truly believe that football is for them.“It’s no use having role models in our Lionesses and the elite players of the Barclays WSL and WSL2 for girls to look up to, if they don’t feel that football is a place for them to thrive. "There is always more to be done but I’m really proud that we’re tackling the difficult challenge of breaking down barriers head on in a bid to create a more supportive, inclusive and accepting environment for the next generation of girls and boys.”The FA said new insight underpinning the launch shows girls’ football participation has more than doubled to 2.7 million since the 2020/21 season, but that gender stereotyping, misogyny and lower body confidence remain material obstacles to sustained engagement.The campaign builds on the organisations’ existing work in schools, with the FA saying the partnership has already helped 90% of eligible schools offer girls aged 7–14 equal access to football in PE.The educational resources feature CBBC presenter Molly Rainford, and are designed for use by teachers to prompt discussion in mixed classrooms rather than being limited to sport-specific sessions.A separate visual podcast has also been created for teachers to support conversations about misogyny, after research cited by the partners found more than half of teachers lack confidence when discussing anti-misogyny topics.Tom Corbett, Barclays’ group head of sponsorship and client experience, said: “Working closely with The FA over so many years, we’ve seen first-hand how powerful the right support can be in opening doors for girls across the country. "Reaching 90% of schools offering girls aged 7–14 equal access to football in PE – three years ahead of schedule – is a milestone we’re incredibly proud of. It’s also a reminder of what’s possible when we keep pushing together.”Barclays has been a long-term commercial partner of the FA across women’s football and girls’ participation programmes, including the Barclays Girls’ Football School Partnership, which was established in 2019 and has been positioned as a key delivery vehicle for improving access in PE and extracurricular settings.