The ongoing partnership between The Trust and “Her Game Too” is strengthening, with exciting plans already being developed by the Dale HGT team. These initiatives will be announced soon!
With all the advocates in place, see HERE to support Charlotte and Leanne as the Dales ambassadors. Progress is already being made to convey the message to fans here at Rochdale, further afield and even abroad! Indeed, we understand that they have begun their caseload locally and started providing support to some.
Part of the initial efforts involved elevating the profile of HGT Dale, boosting the team’s awareness, and sparking conversations. Recently, the HGT team helped host Anne Morris, a member of Altrincham FC’s investor group and the driving force behind Match of the Dames, at the COA during the Altrincham game. The aim was to promote their message and encourage women who have never attended a game before, for any reason, to come along. The event was a success, with new contacts made and attendees gained at the COA.
Part of the HGT initial work involves establishing contacts and building a network of club ambassadors across the league, which will provide continuity to their efforts and a forum for sharing ideas and tracking progress.
Our Day at Brackley Town!
Rochdale HGT Advocate Nikkie Garner, one of our regular travellers to away games, met the Brackley Ambassador Becky Adams, where they exchanged ideas and chatted about what each group was up to and plans for the future. Nikkie extended, on behalf of Dale ambassadors Charlotte and Leanne, a Dale HGT invitation to meet at the COA when the return game is played (hopefully with a reversed match result!).
Sadly, Nikkies’s counterpart had the bigger smile at the end of the game, but with promises to keep in touch and share ideas, Dale HGT is off to a flying start.
We asked Becky, the Brackley Town HGT Ambassador, for her thoughts on football and Brackley. Here’s what she said…
As this was our first season in the National League, I eagerly counted down to August 9th! The Her Game Too WhatsApp group buzzed with excitement for the new season. On August 23rd, we faced Rochdale at home in a segregated game, which made it challenging for me to monitor the Her Game Too activities in the away end. However, my worries eased when Nikkie messaged me, saying she would cover the away end and offer assistance if needed.
It was great to finally meet her! We chatted, took photos, and wished each other luck before the game. The match went well; Rochdale was in good voice, but Brackley ended up winning! I loved meeting someone else involved in Her Game Too!
I’m excited for the upcoming season with Brackley Town and committed to promoting equality and inclusion, ensuring all supporters feel welcome and respected. I hope we can achieve a successful first season in the National League, building upon last year’s achievements. Our girls’ and ladies’ sections will wear HGT sleeve patches this season, and we have great plans to enhance our dedicated fixture. It’s a season full of potential, and I’m proud to be part of it!
And so to the Sutton Game at the COA…
Our home game against Sutton marked a turnaround in our fortunes, resulting in a victory for Dale, which was the highlight of the day. However, it was also an opportunity for HGT Dale to expand their networking and exchange ideas. Charlotte hosted her counterpart, Sal Aitchison from Sutton, who had arrived a bit early to meet with the HGT Dale team.
With a blue sky and sunshine, it was perfect for a photo opportunity as Charlotte (on the right) pointed out the location of the away stand to Sal. After that, the conversation turned serious.
We asked Sal for her thoughts on football at Sutton, particularly the progress of the women’s game. Sal expressed a keen interest in the approach being taken by Rochdale HGT. Here’s what Sal, the Sutton ambassador, had to say…
As ours is a relatively small and community-focused club, we thankfully don’t have too much to deal with at “Her Game Too Sutton” in terms of reports of sexist behaviour – last season, there were none at all at home games.
However, being a smaller club also means our resources can be very limited. Thus, our focus for the current season is on promoting equity for our women’s section.
Like the men, our women’s first team play at the equivalent level, the fifth tier of their football pyramid. However, because the men generate significantly higher revenue for the club, we haven’t been able to invest as much in the women’s team, which arguably means that without this additional investment, they are less able to bring in more income for the club. As a result, they are stuck in a bit of a vicious cycle.
We haven’t been able to play home games at our own ground due to a ground share, which has resulted in significant attendance issues for our women’s team. There have even been times when our women’s first team manager (who’s also our Her Game Too Manager Advocate, Lucy Clark) has had to fundraise for equipment and other basic things for her players, things the men don’t ever have to worry about. Although the club is in a difficult situation with this because we need to generate a certain amount of income to stay afloat, and the focus has had to be on the men’s side of things, for that reason, some changes can still be made that don’t necessarily cost much, or anything.
This season, we are working on improving the promotion of our women’s section, aiming to boost attendances and give them a more prominent presence around the club and online. They’ve been getting better results than the men have lately, so I am hoping to see a little more interest in them!
Meeting our counterparts at Rochdale has been invaluable, and we hope that future networking, sharing of ideas and initiatives become the norm
Well, the Trust notes that our HGT team and Sutton’s HGT representative are not photo-shy! The photo shows our Dales HGT ambassadors (from left to right) Leanne and Charlotte with Sal, the Sutton rep, on the right.
To learn more about HGT and how you can help, contact Charlotte or Leanne at hergameto@daletrust.co.uk
