Football Inspiration

A little while ago I shared an inspiring video with you about football and the relationship between dads and daughters. When it comes to football Dads have a big role to play, after all they often love the sport themselves. I do like to encourage football as a sport as it is very easy to start knocking a ball around in the park and it’s a great way to keep fit.  Of course, it’s much more than that when you get competitively involved in a sport and football is activity that so many of us in the this country like to pursue.  I think it’s great that more and more girls are playing football as they grow up these days: it’s a really positive move.

So I’d like to share the story of Flo Allen, who is an England Women’s U17, with dreams of making it to the England Women Senior squad. Flo had to move away from her home on her parent’s farm near Norwich to Bristol to pursue her footballing dream.  Flo begun playing football when she was only six years old, since then she has developed into one of England’s top prospects to join the England Women’s Senior team.  When Flo was only 16 she had to make the decision to leave home in Norfolk to move to Bristol, joining the ladies team there and chasing her dream of being a professional footballer. Flo is part of the England set-up, currently playing for the U17s with aims of being selected for the U17 England World Cup squad.

Despite the physical distance between Flo and her father, they couldn’t be closer, football being just one of the many reasons they are so close. Rob has always supported his daughter and is the first person Flo goes to for anything, claiming she wouldn’t have gotten anywhere without him. In the film he tells how he puts aside time each night to speak to Flo to discuss her day.

This is the third film in a series produced by energy giant SSE for their ‘Dads and Daughters’ series, and it’s worth a watch as it explores the father/daughter relationship and the transformative effect football has had on Flo’s life.

To watch the full film and find out more about the ‘Dads and Daughters series, visit https://www.sse.co.uk/about-us/sponsorship/sport  You can also find out more about the work SSE are doing in women’s football by visiting www.SSE.co.uk  SSE are committed to improving girls only football provisions and their FA SSE Girls Football Participation Programme is now running with more than 60 clubs taking part around the country. This has increased the number of girls only football provisions, which is a really positive move.

Disclosure: This post is in collaboration with SSE.