{"id":23377,"date":"2023-05-11T16:41:38","date_gmt":"2023-05-11T15:41:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ounews.co\/?p=23377"},"modified":"2023-05-11T16:41:38","modified_gmt":"2023-05-11T15:41:38","slug":"the-conversation-around-women-in-sports-is-changing-long-may-that-continue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/student-stories\/the-conversation-around-women-in-sports-is-changing-long-may-that-continue\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018The conversation around women in sports is changing \u2013 long may that continue\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

As excitement builds for the Women\u2019s FA Cup Final this weekend, we caught up with OU graduate and football fanatic Allana, whose community foundation is inspiring the next generation of female footballers to reach their potential.<\/p>\n

Allana\u2019s career has gone from strength to strength since completing the OU\u2019s Sport, Fitness and Coaching degree<\/a>. With a full-time position as Director of Sport at a London school, Allana\u2019s spare time is dedicated to helping young people develop an enduring love of sport.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not like work for me,\u201d Allana says. \u201cCoaching is what I love doing and I enjoy every minute of it. My main aim with the foundation is to make sure that kids of all abilities can come along to get active and have fun. You\u2019ve got to enjoy what you\u2019re doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

She explains why this approach is so important, \u201cOnly a few players will ever make it to play football professionally, but that\u2019s not the only route. Being involved in sport at any level has a positive impact on mental and physical health and provides a brilliant support network. I\u2019ve met friends for life through sport, and we\u2019ll always have that connection.\u201d<\/p>\n

Allana adds, \u201cThat\u2019s why my number one priority is enjoyment, because that will keep kids motivated. At some clubs, it\u2019s win at all costs and that can put kids off playing for life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gaining the confidence to follow her dream<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"Young

Allana prepping a class<\/p><\/div>\n

Allana always wanted to set up a business that would \u201cgive back\u201d to the community. \u201cI set up the foundation while I was studying for my degree. OU study made me feel I had the capability to do more,\u201d she said. \u201cHaving dyslexia made school difficult for me, and I didn\u2019t have a good experience when I tried a brick university. It wasn\u2019t until I studied with the OU that I developed the confidence just to be myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paying it forward<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Allana wants to use her experience to encourage the young people she works with to believe in themselves, \u201cI believe that you shouldn\u2019t have to change your personality to take part in sport. If you\u2019re shy or lacking in confidence, don\u2019t let that stop you. Your personality should never be a hinderance. Some people are confident, and some are more reserved, that\u2019s what makes a great team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lifelong learning<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Despite being busy running Project Ace Sports Foundation<\/a> and working full time, Allana is currently taking part in The Powerhouse Project<\/a>, which will help take her coaching qualifications to the next level. \u201cI\u2019m really passionate about this programme because it aims to increase representation for women in top coaching positions, which will leave a legacy for future generations of female players and coaches. I made the final 12 out of around 200 applicants, so it\u2019s a great opportunity.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Group

Allana teaching young women at The Powerhouse Project<\/p><\/div>\n

Allana hopes that her commitment to lifelong learning sets the right example, \u201cAs a coach, I think it\u2019s important to keep learning and I champion that with the kids. I also tell them that learning isn\u2019t just academic, you learn from being around people from different walks of life and having new experiences.\u201d<\/p>\n

She thinks back to when the foundation started, \u201cThe OU played a big part in my success, and I\u2019ve recommended it to friends and family. Some of them are now taking courses and they love the OU as much as I did.\u201d<\/p>\n

Celebrating women\u2019s football<\/strong><\/h2>\n

As a long-standing fan of women\u2019s football, Allana is positive about the future, \u201cThe women\u2019s game has been playing catch up for a long time now, but with the success of the Lionesses and the way the BWSL<\/a> is going, it\u2019s definitely moving forward. Games are streamed on Sky Sports, when not that long ago you couldn\u2019t catch a women\u2019s game on TV. I think the conversation around women in sports, not just football is changing and long may that continue.\u201d<\/p>\n

That said, Allana feels there is still a way to go,\u201d There are still barriers to access for aspiring players, especially from the inner city. Even if you do get scouted to play for a club, sometimes it\u2019s just not possible for parents due to the location or cost of the training. Then for potential coaches, there\u2019s the cost of qualifications that not everyone can afford. There\u2019s a lot of talent out there, but opportunity and access are not equal. That just motivates me even more to expand the foundation.\u201d<\/p>\n

The big match<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Looking ahead to Wembley, we couldn\u2019t resist asking who Allana will be rooting for this Sunday, \u201cWell, I\u2019m a die-hard Arsenal fan so I\u2019ll be a diplomatic neutral and say I\u2019m just hoping for an entertaining match!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As excitement builds for the Women\u2019s FA Cup Final this weekend, we caught up with OU graduate and football fanatic Allana, whose community foundation is inspiring the next generation of female footballers to reach their potential. Allana\u2019s career has gone from strength to strength since completing the OU\u2019s Sport, Fitness and Coaching degree. With a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":23385,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[1525,1640],"class_list":["post-23377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-student-stories","tag-news-home","tag-ou-home"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23377","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23377"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23377\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23385"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23377"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23377"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}