Our beloved Oldham Athletic partnered with Her Game Too in February 2022.
Take a look at what we have achieved in our first 12 months!
Our team is now made up of six passionate advocates who are dedicated to supporting Latics with the #HerGameToo campaign.
Alison Schofield - Lead ambassador
Dawn Marsden - Advocate
Andrea Wilkes - Advocate
Kerry Topping - Advocate
Sammy Dixon - Advocate
Lauren Parry - Advocate
We have regular meetings which always involves food 👀
#HERGAMETOO AT BOUNDARY PARK
Since the partnership was created, the Club, Oldham Athletic Community Trust and the Women and Girls teams have been nothing short of incredible in their willingness and desire to bring about positive change at Boundary Park.
We have regular meetings with the Club and the Trust and have an incredible relationship.
Some of our early initiatives include posters around the ground detailing how to report any sexist abuse and a visible #HerGameToo presence on the LED boards around the ground.
LED boards around the ground visible at every game.
FROM IDEA TO REALITY:
As the 2022/23 season started, we were delighted to be able to provide free sanitary products to anyone who may need them on matchdays thanks to excellent local support from Co-op Royton and Sainsburys in Oldham.
Sanitary baskets in every toilet for home and away fans.
We have just recently picked up a second batch of products from Co-op Royton which will ensure all fans can continue to have access to free sanitary products as and when they need them.
Picking up sanitary products from CO-OP Royton who sponsored them for the whole 22/23 season
FAN ENGAGEMENT
We set up a blog which we run ourselves and we try to speak to a female fan, employee or player from the visiting team before every home fixture to allow them give an insight into their team, their passion for football and their perspective on life as a female fan.
When we can, we greet them when they arrive at Boundary Park. We also speak to lots of inspirational people who are involved with the club and the local community.
Meeting some Wealdstone fans after showcasing them in our blog.
SHOWING SUPPORT
On 13th August 2022, our club showcased their support for #HerGameToo by wearing warm-up tees with our logo on - live on BT Sport!
Captain Liam Hogan supporting the HGT cause.
Next up, for International Womens Day, Oldham Athletic will be holding their first dedicated HGT fixture on Saturday 4th March when we welcome Boreham Wood.
The team will be wearing warm-up t-shirts featuring the HGT logo. Oldham Athletic Womens and Girls team will be walking around with collection buckets prior to the game as well as doing a lap around the ground at half time!
FEMALE REPRESENTATION
For International Womens Day, we will be showcasing the many amazing women that work at Oldham Athletic throughout the month. We have a large presence of women working at Oldham Athletic. This is a great statement for any young girl wishing to work in men's football.
Oldham Athletics physio/Doctor pictured right with the physio at Dorking Wanderers.
REPORTING SYSTEMS
Oldham Athletic Football Club take any form of discrimination seriously at Boundary Park. We have installed information posters around the stadium detailing what to do should you have cause to report someone.
Reporting posters around the ground.
SUPPORTERS GROUPS
We are proud to have two representatives on the Oldham Athletic Fans Council which holds regular meetings with members of other supporter groups to discuss issues and concerns and come up with solutions that work for everybody.
First Fan Council meeting with other supporter groups from Latics.
GRASSROOTS
We are extending our support and Her Game Too message to the local community and have supported a number of grassroots clubs partnering with the campaign.
One of the first clubs we supported was AFC Oldham who partnered with #HerGameToo a few months ago. They do an incredible job in promoting women at their club and we look forward to see what the rest of the season brings from them.
Supporting our first Local grassroot partnership.
The aim is to gain a profounder understanding of the issues at grassroots level and what as a campaign can we do to assist, as well as do our best to offer opportunities and create relationships.
We have also been approached by local cricket clubs to assist them so watch this space!
COMMUNITY
We have been encouraging more women and girls to get involved in oldhams recreational football training by taking part in the sessions ourselves!
Active in Football, in partnership with @OfficialOACT, have a Recreational Women’s Football session at the Honeywell Centre 7-8pm. The session is completely FREE and women of any ability are welcome! 18+. They are so welcoming and It is all about keeping active and socialising! If you are interested please email: Emily.ashworth@oact.org.uk
Alison & Dawn taking part in the recreational women's football session. Alison not playing in 15 years and Dawn never playing before showing the training really is for all abilities!
SUPPORTING LOCAL BUSINESSES
We have sourced Her Game Too merchandise locally to help support local small business.
The amazing Sam Corry (AKA the hat lady at Oldham Athletic) designed and got made our beautiful embroidered bucket hats. Sam then sold these to fans from clubs up and down the country!
Picking up our #HerGameToo bucket hats from Sam Corry.
THE CAMPAIGN
#HerGameToo is now an award winning campaign. We are proud winners of the Football Content Awards 2022 in the 'Best in Women's Football' category!
Alison with the lead team at the FCAs!
Many clubs have now partnered with us from the EFL including premiership clubs. We have partnered with hundreds of grassroot clubs. We have supported some grassroot clubs with new kits and training equipment. As we continue to grow we aim to Donate more funds towards the development of grassroots girls football. You can check out more about our aims and objectives on our website www.hergametoo.co.uk
FROM THE TEAM 💙💛
1 year! Wow. I can't believe how much we have done in just a short space of time and looking forward to what we do next! I'm really excited for the dedicated fixture on Saturday. It's going to be a great day, i'm hoping we can help raise lots of funds for Oldham Athletic womens and girls team. & get another 3 points!
It was no surprise to us to receive such wonderful support from our fellow Oldham Athletic fans.
The support and encouragement for the campaign has been second to none. We know we are extremely lucky to be amongst such a brilliant fanbase at Boundary Park and would like to thank everyone for getting behind us.
I also want to thank the advocates as they work incredibly hard and I'm really proud of them. We all do this voluntarily around our full time jobs and busy lives. They put 100% effort into their roles and I couldn't wish for a better team - Alison Schofield
Alison Schofield
"It's been an absolute pleasure to be a Her Game Too advocate for OAFC for the past year.
We started from scratch and are still learning but I'm proud of the things we have accomplished so far. As the year has gone on, the number of men, women, boys and girls asking me about the campaign is growing all the time and it's always good to dispel myths and share what we're really about.
It's great to have two of us on the OAFC Fans Council as it gives us a great outlet to share our thoughts with members of other groups and get a better insight into other areas of the club. My favourite bit of being an advocate is working on the blog as it gives me chance to interact with fans from other clubs and learn more about their team and their thoughts on what life is like for female football fans across the country. Roll on the next 12 months!" - Dawn Marsden
Dawn Marsden with Son Oli
Being part of the Latics HGT team has been great, meeting up with like-minded ladies who have become friends.
I feel we have achieved so much in such a short space of time and love how far we have come, and I'm excited for the next part of the journey - Sammy Dixon
Sammy dixon
Wow its been a year since I joined Her Game Too with Alison and the rest of the HGT girls at Latics, and what a year it’s been!
I originally decided to join HGT to become more involved with the club and to get to know and mingle with other Latics fans.
Growing up, there wasn't the opportunities for women to play football like there is today, not that I was much of runner when I was younger anyway, I much preferred to watch from the terraces.
WHAT HAVE I ENJOYED THE MOST ABOUT BEING PART OF HGT?
I love that we've all been working really hard behind the scenes to find female fans of the clubs we are about to play at Boundary park. I think it's absolutely amazing to think by the end of the season, we’ll have made some great friends at every club in this National League and that's something I've really enjoyed and proud to have been part of.
As for the HGT campaign, I feel honoured to be part of it. I'm proud that it highlights the message that football is also for women and girls and inspires confidence in sharing our opinions about football without fear of sexist comments, and long may it continue.
As for next year, it will be great for us to be working alongside the other fan groups at BP such as OASF, OADID, the Athleticos and not forgetting OASIS - Andrea Wilkes
Andrea Wilkes
Being part of the her game too campaign has been such a positive experience, as a new advocate and season ticket holder, the her game too campaign has made me feel at ease being a female supporter. It has been amazing to hear people’s stories about being football fans, met some amazing female supporters and supporting female inclusivity within sport. - Kerry Topping
Kerry Topping with Son Callum
It's been a privilege to work alongside the 5 amazing ladies we have in this group, they’ve been able to teach me a lot in the 12 months we’ve been doing this & i’m for ever thankful for their constant support and understanding.
It’s an honour to represent the club that I’ve grown up loving and being able to help them improve facilities and engagement opportunities for fans like myself. Being able to make the changes we have (no matter how big or small) has allowed the match day experience for everyone to improve and I can’t wait to continue this journey with the other amazing HGT advocates! - Lauren Parry
Lauren with her Dad last season at Scunthorpe away
Comments