We are excited to start our monthly newsletter bringing you stories, updates, and insights on what’s happening at Girl Power globally! ​
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10 Years of Girl Power

This September marks the celebration of 10 years of Girl Power. For a decade, Girl Power has used football as a tool to encourage leadership, belonging, connection, and visibility. There is perhaps no more appropriate commemoration than bringing together grassroots players, pioneering leaders, professional players, football governance, managers, and more; playing a football tournament; and discussing the next chapter for Girl Power and women’s football on a wider scale.

​Girl Power 2026 Football Summit

This month, Girl Power travelled to Copenhagen for the 2026 Football Summit. Over the weekend, our focus was on so much more than celebrating leadership. It was an opportunity to strengthen the sisterhood and bonds between the teams, creating meaningful connections. Two days ahead of the summit, the teams took part in mixed training and community networking sessions.

One of the most powerful parts of the Summit was bringing so many different voices, experiences, and perspectives together in one space. Across the panels, the pitch, and the conversations in between, we heard stories of challenge, ambition, resilience, and change. Bringing these voices together reminded us of the power of connection, and of what can happen when people from different backgrounds, generations, and areas of the game come together with a shared belief that football can be more inclusive, more accessible, and more representative for everyone.

Saturday began with a speech from Lise Klavness, President of the Norwegian Football Federation, UEFA Executive Committee Member, and former player for Norway International (with 73 caps!). Her speech brought a powerful leadership perspective to the conversation: What does courageous leadership look like - and how can those with power in football use it to build a fairer, more inclusive and more sustainable game for the next generation? The key take away was that courageous leadership is not simply about holding a position of power — it is about being willing to use that power to challenge existing structures, open doors for others, and create lasting change. The future of football depends on leaders who are prepared to act, even when change is uncomfortable.

The first panel was “Leading the Change: Building the Future of Women’s Football”. Moderated by Suzy Wrack, leading women’s football journalist, author and broadcaster, and a prominent voice in the global coverage of the women’s game. Suzy’s panel brought together Lisa Währer, Line Røddik Hansen, and Majken Gilmartin. This panel combined the speakers’ experience across playing, managing, championing the rights of female athletes, and so much more to discuss shaping a commercial future for football that is more diverse and inclusive.

Panel 2 was “Changing the Narrative: How Media Is Shaping Women’s Football.” Moderator Husna Chhoangalia (podcaster, activist, and community football advocate) chaired a panel with Felicia Pennant, Samatha Miller, Anna Sofie Hallbæck, Amalie Bremer and Suzy Wrack. The panellists discussed several crucial issues: How can we take ownership of media narratives? How do we give everyone the visibility they deserve?

The third panel, “Creating Pathways: Women in Coaching & Leadership,” brought together Rachel Pavlou, Women’s Football Development Manager at The Football Association (The FA); Håkan Sjöstrand, Senior Strategic Advisor at UEFA & UEFA Foundation; Paola Bethmage, Senior Global Grants Manager at the New Balance Foundation; and Erik Brøgger Rasmussen, CEO of the Danish Football Association (DBU).

With perspectives spanning football development, governance, investment and grassroots impact, the conversation explored how we can create more accessible, diverse and sustainable pathways for women in coaching and leadership.

A key theme was that creating opportunities is only the beginning. Pathways must be intentionally designed so that women from different backgrounds can access them, develop within them, and progress into positions where they can lead and influence the game.

The panel also reflected on the importance of giving back, opening doors for others and using positions of influence to create opportunities for the next generation — a model of leadership that sits at the heart of Girl Power’s work.

For the final panel, “The Next Generation: Young Leaders Changing the Game,” we turned our attention to the future, and gave the stage to the young people who are already shaping it. Moderated by Sara Catriona Dick, Performance Coach & Sports Creative, the panel brought together Anusha Samia Siddiq, Danish Panna Footballer & Youth refugee Role Model; Rukhsar Sidqee, former Afghanistan U17 National Team Goalkeeper, Refugee Advocate & Podcaster; Lipa Nessa, Sports Activist & Grassroots Coach; Mariam Garba, AI Engineer with an MSc in AI & Robotics; and Emily Bisgaard, Visual Artist.

Together, they explored representation, belonging, identity, self-expression and the importance of having your voice heard in football and beyond. Their different journeys demonstrated that leadership and change do not follow one pathway, and that football can be a powerful space for young people to find community, express who they are and challenge existing barriers.

The conversation was an empowering reminder that young people should not simply be invited into conversations about the future, they need the space, trust and platform to help shape it. Our voices belong in every room, not only in the future, but today.

As always, with Girl Power, there is a focus on those voices that do not yet have their space to belong. Girls and women throughout the world continue to be deprived of their dreams, opportunities, and potential. By continuing to defy stereotypes and demand space for women across all areas of football that the panels discussed, we keep these dreams alive and we fight for opportunities.

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​Stepping outside the boardroom and onto the pitch

On Sunday, grassroots teams from 10 countries participated in the Girl Power Diversity World Cup. The tournament brought together girls and women from the United Kingdom, United States, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands, Greece, Malta, Germany, Denmark, and Finland. Nadia Nadim (UNESCO Champion for Girls’ & Women’s Education) joined the teams as the tournament guest. The competition was tough, but the team from Mexas Football Club in Mexico came out on top. Thank you and well done to everyone who participated.

From 24–27 September, football brought us together, but what we created went far beyond the game.

Across four unforgettable days, we trained, played, learned, connected, laughed, danced and sang together. People arrived from different countries, cultures and communities, and left with new friendships, new connections and a shared sense of belonging. The feedback we have already received reminds us just how empowering and meaningful these moments of connection can be.

We closed the journey with the Girl Power Diversity World Cup, celebrating football in all its joy, with Team Mexico lifting the trophy as our 2026 champions! 🇲🇽🏆

To everyone who travelled, participated, spoke, played, volunteered, partnered with us and believed in this vision, thank you!!

We came together through football. We left as a stronger community.
More Women in Football. More Refugees in Football. More Change in Football.

Reflections

The discussion panels encouraged us to think big - about the careers and global opportunities that football can open up. But at Girl Power, we are never far from our roots. Connection, friendship, and a shared love of the game were just as crucial throughout the weekend.

By bringing together these 10 grassroots teams, the weekend created a space for powerful new friendships and connections to grow. These players have the potential to create meaningful change, both at home and across the world. By empowering and supporting players, we help them carry that same sense of possibility, connection, and confidence into their communities - and inspire those around them to do the same.

Your €10 donation helps fund opportunities like this for girls from all over the world. Grassroots football is unprecedentedly popular, and your contribution will go to some of the girls at the forefront of this movement. Help these girls to lead the change!

Different teams, different stories, one game, one shared goal.

Community Spotlight: Rukshar Sediqee

Rukhsar left Afghanistan at the age of 16 when the Taliban came to power, fleeing to Portugal with her three younger siblings. She refused to give them up to a care home and felt a huge duty to provide for them. She struggled to find her place on football teams in Portugal; she lost hope, and gave up football to prioritise working. She returned to football in Germany, but was isolated by her teammates and dismissed by the coaches. She reflects, ‘the truth was very simple: I just wanted to play football.’ Rukshar has not let these struggles discourage her, and has held strong to her passion for football.

She gave us some insight into her early experiences with football in Afghanistan, navigating life and football as a refugee in Europe, and her experiences with Girl Power - most recently the Leadership Academy and Wolfsburg Training Camp.

Rukhsar’s journey with football began at a very young age. She began training by herself, and eventually joined an under-17 team. Pursuing football came with many challenges, from within her family: ‘My father told me, “You have to choose: football or your family.” I was terrified and full of doubt, but I chose football.’ Rukhsar recalls that being able to train in Afghanistan was neither simple nor safe. She would often walk for three hours across the city from her home to the football field. Not only were these long walks unsafe because of explosions and fighting, but she would face harassment from strangers simply because she was a girl playing football. Rukhsar highlights the need for courage; you have to keep going in the face of adversity, or the ‘hungry lion’ as she calls it, despite the danger, fear, and uncertainty on the way.

Before the academy, Rukshar says, she did not have the opportunity to think about herself as a leader. She built new connections, developed her communication, and challenged her existing ideas that leadership has to look a certain way. Crucially, the Leadership Academy helped Rukshar to see that her story could become a source of strength. The resilience, responsibility, and empathy that she developed through her earlier experiences are all qualities that are vital to creating a community of support for other girls. She wants to give back through her coaching and make sure that the girls she works with are heard and their abilities recognised.

The Wolfsburg training camp last month influenced the way that Rukshar thinks about coaching. Teaching football skills is only part of the role; she emphasises the importance of a safe environment where making mistakes is part of learning and there is always someone who believes in them.

Rukhsar’s message to girls whose right to play is restricted is: your dreams matter, your voice matters, and you deserve the opportunity to play, learn, and choose your own future. She urges girls to continue fighting, even though it is painful to have to fight for something as simple as the right to play football.

Football has taught Rukhsar that we are stronger when we stand together. Girl Power creates spaces where every girl is accepted, respected, and supported towards her dreams.

The one year project

Rukshar has now been through Girl Power’s one year project, she has participated in the following: the Leadership Academy, Wolfsburg Football Training Camp, she was allocated a Girl Power mentor to support her development plan, she has completed the DFB entry-to-coaching license as part the Girl Power coaching pathway the course funded by Girl Power and supported by the DFB. Rukhsar will be joining the Girl Power coaching group to deliver training sessions to the girls in the community. Most recently she was invited to speak in the ‘Next Generation’ panel at the Girl Power Summit. She has come out of this experience as an empowered and confident leader with a global sisterhood of support.

Your donation helps shape stories like Rukshar’s by funding opportunities to connect and uplift players and invest in the future of women’s grassroots football.

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