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Girls in New South Wales are learning new soccer and life skills - alongside their fathers. Hannah Duncan speaks to program co-ordinator Kirsten Smith.
Many factors can act as barriers to female participation in soccer, particularly at a young age.
One of the key issues is a lack of soccer role models, particularly in countries where professional heroes are in short supply or other sports dominate the agenda.
In the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW), a new project is aiming to have girls be inspired by role models a little closer to home: their fathers.
The Daughters and Dads Football program, run by Northern NSW Football, was piloted last year and is now ramping up ahead of the World Cup being co-hosted by Australia next month.
Its purpose is to boost young girls’ involvement in the game and bring them closer to male figures in their lives.
WSC caught up with the program co-ordinator Kirsten Smith to find out all about it...
KS: [In Australia], 90% of girls don’t meet physical activity requirement and less than 1% have mastered all fundamental sport skills before finishing primary school.
Governments have called for innovative approaches to address these alarming statistics.
In 2014, Professor Philip Morgan [of the University of Newcastle, NSW] launched Daughters and Dads Active and Empowered, a world-first program seeking to improve the physical activity levels, sport skills and social-emotional wellbeing of girls by operationalising the father-daughter relationship.
The program successfully achieved these outcomes while boosting men’s mental health and deepening the father-daughter bond.
The program has received national and international awards for improving wellbeing and benefiting society.
In 2019, Daughters and Dads was named a key program in the New South Wales government’s Her Sport Her Way initiative. Consequently, sport-adapted versions of the program have been developed.
Daughters and Dads Football was piloted in 2022 and is scaling up in 2023, leveraging the momentum of the Fifa Women’s World Cup being played Down Under.
KS: The Daughters and Dads Football program provides a safe entry to football for primary school-aged girls [ages 5 to 11]. Girls attend the program with their dad or father-figure.
People often ask why we target fathers. Unfortunately, fathers account for less than 6% of participation in parenting programs.
Fathers also spend more time with their sons than their daughters, meaning girls often miss out on the benefits of positive father involvement.
However, fathers generally demonstrate sport skills well, due to having more opportunities during their own childhood.
They are also more likely to engage in rough-and-tumble play, which is proven to have massive cognitive and physical benefits for children.
In the program, ‘dads’ can be any significant male role model, from grandfathers to uncles or trusted family friends.
Northern NSW Football promotes the program to its members, local schools and the wider community. The program appeals to daughters and dads but also the wider family.
Mums are often instrumental in encouraging the dad and daughter to get involved.
KS: The program involves 90-minute sessions over nine consecutive weeks.
The first session is a dads-only workshop. Dads learn about their powerful influence on their daughters, the unique challenges faced by girls and evidence-based coaching tips.
Daughters and dads attend the rest of the sessions together. A unique element of the program is the education component, where girls learn about football rules, tactics and positive female role models.
This sparks an interest in the game that can be fanned into a flame of lifelong football passion. They also learn vital social-emotional skills that benefit them on and off the pitch.
During the weekly practical, daughters can be heard roaring with laughter and grunting determinedly as they engage in rough-and-tumble activities with dad.
This is followed by skills-based activities aligned with the Football Australia National Curriculum. The session ends with daughters and dads teaming up for modified football games.
A home program keeps the bonding, learning and practising going throughout the week.
KS: Since its launch last year, Daughters and Dads Football has reached more than 200 families, with close to 500 daughters and dads reaping its many benefits.
Participants have given the program an overall enjoyment rating of 4.9 out of 5. Across all versions of Daughters and Dads, nearly 3,000 people have completed programs.
KS: Less than 24% of Australian soccer players are girls - Football Australia’s goal is 50%. Lack of confidence is a key barrier to female participation.
Daughters and Dads Football addresses this by providing girls with a safe and supportive introduction to the sport.
Their skill development is accelerated through having their dad as a one-on-one coach. The ‘no lines’ policy means more touches, fun and exponential skill improvement, which breeds motivation to play.
The program is designed to be adaptable and beneficial for all ability levels. It therefore appeals to those outside the football family as an optimal introduction to the sport but also boosts the skills of those already involved.
This decreases dropout rates, which play a major part in the under-representation of women in football.
Importantly, the program teaches daughters and dads about gender bias and the ways that girls are often treated unfairly in sport and society.
Girls are empowered with social-emotional skills like bravery, persistence, resilience and critical thinking, to live full and active lives. This is further strengthened by recruiting their fathers as gender equity advocates.
KS: The Daughters and Dads Football program has funding from the New South Wales government until June 2024.
During this period, there will be seven programs delivered each school term in partnership with clubs, associations, schools and individuals.
The aim is to ensure sustainability beyond the funding period to ensure families and football clubs continue to receive the incredible benefits of the program for years to come.
KS: Get involved! The Daughters and Dads program is a game-changer for sporting organisations and the community.
The program has won numerous awards for impact and has increased female grassroots participation.
The Daughters and Dads team at the University of Newcastle has successfully worked with multiple partners to design and implement programs, globally, across various sports.
If you are an organisation looking to set up a program in your area, please get in touch - email daughtersanddads@newcastle.edu.au or follow us on Instagram.
You can also watch Daughters and Dads Football in action and hear from daughters and dads first-hand about their experiences.
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