I remember my daughter coming home from football and saying: “Dad, it wasn’t the winning – it was how we all pulled each other through.” Another time she told me: “It wasn’t the scoreline that mattered, it was how we dug in for each other.” That’s a teenager summing up what every leadership seminar tries to teach. And she got it on a muddy pitch on a Tuesday night. And then there’s the kids who’ve had every reason to walk away.
I once told the story: “This young girl – she’d had an ASBO, she’d been written off by everyone. And then she found her place in a team. That’s when it clicked. She turned up. She worked. She grafted – because she knew people were relying on her.” I’ve said it before: “When you’ve been written off, and then suddenly you’re part of a team – that’s transformational. You see kids stand taller because they feel they’ve got a place.” That’s not about sport. That’s about life.
And it doesn’t stop at school. I’ve talked about another girl who came through the programme years back. “She’s now in the police. And she’ll tell you herself – it was being in a team that gave her the resilience, the confidence, the belief that she could do something bigger.” That’s the point. It’s not about winning medals. It’s about preparing young people for the lives they’re going to lead. And yet, we keep nudging girls out.
The research says girls miss 280 million hours of sport every year compared to boys. I’ve seen why: “Pitches booked for the lads. Girls left as an afterthought. By the time they’re 11, they’ve walked away – not because they didn’t want it, but because we’ve made it harder for them.” Then there’s the cost of kit, travel, club fees. Every barrier adds up to the same message: this isn’t for you.
And what do we lose? Not just matches, but the very things employers say they can’t find – teamwork, confidence, adaptability. I’ve said it plenty of times: “You can’t be what you can’t see. If girls never see women’s sport taken seriously, why would they think they belong on the pitch? Visibility’s not anice-to-have. It’s part of the solution.” Because when a girl watches a woman lift a trophy, she doesn’t just think, “I could play football.” She thinks, “I could lead.”
So yes, the economists reckon £6.5 billion in benefit by 2035. But for me, it comes down to this: “The moment when a kid realises they can do it – that’s the thing. That’s what changes lives.” That’s the moment my daughter had on the pitch. The girl with the ASBO had when she realised her team needed her. The girl who went on to join the police had when she discovered she could belong.
So let’s stop treating outdoor education and sport like extras – the first thing to be cut when budgets tighten. Because they’re not extras. They’re the foundation. They’re how young people learn resilience, teamwork, and belonging before life tests them for real. As I’ve said more than once: “Sport’s never just about sport. It’s about giving young people the chance to find out who they are – and who they can be.”
And when we shut girls out, we’re not just taking away games. We’re taking away futures.
