The Football Club Will Be Launched At St Gregory’s Catholic School on April 16
Swaggarlicious Ltd, a football and education-based organisation, will launch its first girls football club at St Gregory’s Catholic School on April 16th 2015.
The organisation was formed by qualified Headteacher, Manisha Tailor, who embarked upon a career change to follow her passion for football. She now finds herself in various roles within the game: Head Coach at Middlesex Girls Centre of Excellence, Academy scout for Brentford FC, FA Education Tutor, Show Racism the Red Card (education worker) and TV presenter for Sports Tonight Live to name but a few.
“Strong, positive female role models play an important part in helping to encourage girls and women to aspire to be the best they can be, as players, coaches or administrators and managers.” (Steve Goodsell, SRtRC – SE Regional Manager).
As an Asian female, who is also a carer for her twin brother who suffers from mental health, challenging stereotypes is at the forefront of her vision.
“There is still a huge under-representation of females in the game, especially those from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds. The unsociable hours alongside the stereotypical view of looking ‘butch’ and not very ‘feminine’, as well as having a certain sexuality, still exists for women in football and thus leads to the low numbers of females working on and off the pitch. Grassroots is very important to me and this is where we can really engage with young girls to form a love for the game, regardless of background. To keep the girls playing, government funding is key and this is going to play a crucial role in ensuring the sustainability of this programme. Through Swaggarlicious I want to be able to empower young girls and women to challenge stereotypes to help diversify the game.” (CEO Swaggarlicious Ltd, Manisha Tailor)
PE teacher at St Gregory’s, Liz Lowden, has worked in partnership with Manisha over the past year and comments on its impact on technical quality.
“Girls football has really taken off at St Gregory’s and having a qualified female coach coming in to school to deliver some of the training sessions has had a huge impact on the standard. This year we entered a girl’s team in the Middlesex Cup for the first time! Manisha has been key in delivering high quality coaching as well as consistency and she has developed a good rapport with the girls. Obtaining funding from Brent sports development to continue this project is vital in maintaining participation and quality. We expect to become more competitive at both a local and county level as well as encouraging our girls to have fun whilst promoting healthy, active living.”
This initiative has resulted in Manisha employing a team of coaches whom she will mentor to deliver the programme, including JJ, who also works with Football Beyond Borders.
“Women’s football at grassroots level needs more and more JJ’s so that it can widen the participation of women of all backgrounds. She has been a shining example to all the women we coach.” (Tom Perez, Football Beyond Borders, Head of Communications & Assistant coach of Women Beyond Borders)
Manisha also sits on the grants board at the Women’s Sports Trust, and co-founder, Tammy Parlour, states the importance of challenging perceptions that exist for women in the game.
“Great sport can inspire ambition, challenge perceptions and send a positive message about what women and girls are capable of. Having more visible female role models demonstrates strong and varied examples of what women can achieve in sport, in the workplace and beyond.” (Tammy Parlour, Co-Founder Womens Sports Trust).
You can contact Manisha Tailor via:
Email – info@swaggarlicious.com
Facebook – www.facebook.com/swaggarlicious
Twitter: @ManishaTailor1
