December 12 – FIFA has widened its Live Your Goals initiative in women’s football and is inviting member associations to submit applications. Submissions should be made by 25 February and should detail the women’s football development initiative the federation wants to implement.
Live Your Goals was launched at the Women’s World Cup in Germany in 2011 and piloted with four federations in 2012-13.
Over 6,000 girls in total participated in the Live Your Goals festivals organised in Japan, Azerbaijan, Costa Rica and Republic of Ireland. Each of the pilot federations reported an increase in the number of girls coming into the game at grassroots level as a result.
Live Your Goals is essentially a promotional campaign that comes in a ready-to-use format that aims to attracting more girls to get involved in football. It is designed to be used as a platform to showcase female players’ achievements and the positive benefits of getting involved in the sport. It has become know for its striking pink branding.
By taking the sports top players and role models like Abby Wambach, Homare Sawa, Marta and Christine Sinclair, the objective is to inspire and engage a new generation of players.
There are currently an estimated 29 million women and girls playing football worldwide.
“Any young women who want to live their goals I would personally tell them to challenge themselves and do something that scares you every single day. Don’t let anybody tell you that you can’t do something. Make your choices and empower yourself to do what you love to do,” said US international and Women’s World Player of the year nominee Amy Wambach.
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