FA told to let girls play football with the boys

Andrew Culf, sports correspondent
Tuesday
July 25, 2006
The Guardian


It has become another front in the battle
of the sexes, fought in playgrounds and sports clubs across the country: should
girls be allowed to play football with the boys at school? Today, an influential
committee of MPs urges that they should, and demands that the Football Association
change its rules so mixed teams are allowed beyond the age of 11.
The report
also says the FA should take a lead in removing cultural and practical barriers
which undermine the women's game. The MPs argue that the rule acts as an artificial
barrier to girls' potential development - and a possible deterrent to more females
taking up the sport.

Women's football soared in popularity after the box
office success of the film Bend it Like Beckham, overtaking netball as the biggest
female participation sport. It has 130,000 registered players and expanded from
80 teams affiliated to the FA in 1993 to more than 8,000 last season.

But,
according to a report published today by the Commons culture, media and sport
select committee, it is hampered by a lack of representation in football's corridors
of power and lack of support from the male Premiership clubs. The committee recommends
establishing a taskforce, drawing in government departments and the football authorities,
to develop a blueprint for its future.

It says the "expansion of the women's
game is being hindered by various barriers, many of which are rooted in cultural
attitudes", resulting in a "mismatch between enthusiasm and opportunity". The
MPs acknowledge that progress has been made, aided by live BBC coverage of last
year's European women's championship, which attracted 3 million viewers for England's
matches, and that attitudes have changed since the FA decreed in 1921 that it
was banning women from playing on any pitch under its control because the game
was "unsuitable for females".

The report notes there are no women on the
FA's board and only one female member of the 90-strong FA Council. The committee
says it was disappointed that chief executive Brian Barwick did not attend its
inquiry, adding: "The FA should demonstrate that it recognises the value of drawing
women into governance and promoting female role models as a way of increasing
recognition and widening the fan base, thereby benefiting the sport as a whole."

MPs'
support for mixed teams above the age of 11 follows a campaign led by 10-year-old
Minnie Cruttwell, who wrote to Tessa Jowell, the culture secretary, asking to
be allowed to continue to play for her south London team, Balham Blazers, next
season.

She met Mr Barwick to challenge what she called a sexist rule,
explaining: "It's not fair that I have to change teams, because I'm just as good
as boys."

Richard Caborn, the sports minister, has argued selection should
be on merit, while the Women's Sports Foundation said it should be on criteria
such as weight, height and ability. The MPs say: "We recommend that the absolute
prohibition on mixed football over the age of 11 should be removed and that an
informed assessment by team managers and coaches of individuals' capacity to play
in mixed teams should govern selection policy."

Last night the FA said
that it was consulting children across the country in conjunction with the children's
commissioner and would release its conclusions in September. It fears facing legal
liability over injuries, because boys and girls develop at different physiological
rates, and says there could also be a funding issue over providing separate changing
facilities.

John Whittingdale, Conservative chairman of the committee,
said: "The FA has done a lot for women but it can give more of a lead in stamping
out the kind of prejudice which threatens to undermine the women's game, and it
could start right at the top, at board level. We've got the ability and the commitment
among young people - what we need is a path for those young players to develop
their skills in a more encouraging climate."

The report criticises clubs
such as Manchester United for withdrawing financial support from their women's
teams, and urges men's professional clubs to make it standard practice to share
training pitches and grounds with women's clubs.

Helen Donohoe, head of
policy at the Women's Sports Foundation, welcomed the report but said a chasm
still existed between the global brands of the Premiership and women's football.
"One in three girls wants to play football, but the facilities at the grassroots
are really shocking - there's Chelsea at the top and Hackney Marshes at the bottom."