As a teenage girl, it’s one thing to play in a tournament with a star-studded name like the ‘Alessia Russo Cup’, but it’s another thing to glance along the touchline and see a two-time Euro winner watching. 180 girls between the ages of 12 and 14 had the opportunity to do just that.
Even before Russo, his photographer and entourage arrived, the venue was buzzing with energy. And most importantly, the athletes were having fun at a time when female participation in sports is at its lowest. The Public First report, Game Changing: How sport can create better opportunities for all girls, commissioned by Sky, found that girls aged 11 to 18 miss out on 280 million hours of sport a year compared to boys.
It’s a vision that Russo shared with Goals 4 Girls and Sky to level the playing field for girls in sport.
The Arsenal and England player knows the impact could be transformative: “I said earlier to my family that this has been a long commitment and I’ve been lucky to have some great people helping me along the way, but I’m really glad to be here today.
“This is a day to get all the work done and have some fun. This is a place where you can go out and meet all the girls, enjoy the tournament, and yeah, celebrate youth football.”
By then, Russo and I counted 15 cameras and a swarm of six or seven girls desperate to catch a glimpse of our hero. The accolade attached to her name evokes memories of lining up for a picture with Arsenal’s Kelly Smith as a child, offering a glimpse of a younger Russo when she half-jokingly remarked, “You look a little shy behind the camera.”
He added: “It’s so important to know that you can achieve. I also hope that you have role models and people that you can look up to and see yourself in. Even if maybe a few girls see that today, that would be amazing to me. I’ll make sure they have the support around them and understand that football is for them, because we want everyone to play.”
Chislehurst Girls’ School was the winner of the first tournament. Their enthusiasm and love for football exuded from the players who had the chance to meet their heroes and give post-match interviews, and they celebrated confidently and happily, but this partnership is about more than just discovering the next superstar.
Soccer has given Russo trophies and medals, but it has given him so much more: intangible but all-important real-life skills such as self-confidence, resilience and leadership. Things might have turned out differently if she didn’t have the people around her at her age – coaches, family and friends – who gave her the encouragement and confidence to pursue her dreams when others decided soccer or sports weren’t for them.
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Lionesses and Arsenal forward Russo launches the first Alessia Cup in north London. Over 180 girls took part in the tournament and Goals 4 Girls CEO Francesca Brown highlighted the impact of the tournament.
Arsenal’s Champions League winner reflected: “I love playing football, but I also love everything that football has taught me. It has taught me how to work hard, how to be a good teammate, how to promote your own standards. And if these girls can take that into their lives, whether it’s football or not, that’s really important, because there’s a lot of value in being part of a team.”
Mr Russo’s aim is to empower girls through football, and with Sky-backed London-based charity Goals 4 Girls, he hopes other barriers such as lack of self-confidence, poor body image, under-representation and lack of role models will be overcome, resulting in £6.5bn of health benefits in 10 years.
I tell you about the moment my 5-year-old son, who plays soccer every Saturday, watched TV and asked where the boys were. Russo smiles. “When I was a kid, you had to physically go to the stadium to watch a game, and that wasn’t always easy. So now they can play their game and go home and watch a big soccer game with the top teams competing against each other. It’s so important. It’s so great to have that visibility. If you can feel that and see some of yourself in them, that’s really important.”
Russo has some big plans for what’s next for her foundation and the tournament, but perhaps not as big as where her soccer career will take her. For now, she must focus on one of the biggest games of the season, as Arsenal aim to end their 32-match unbeaten run in the WSL on Saturday and close the gap on league leaders Chelsea.
There will be some extra faces at the Emirates as Chislehurst School for Girls return to their traditional role of watching the championship team as fans. The prize for victory is to reverse roles and root for the hero.
