Since the age of 16, I\u2019ve played football semi-professionally, representing clubs including Birmingham City, Coventry City, Derby County and most recently, Stoke City.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s not been easy to juggle the commitment of training and playing three or four times a week and sacrificing weekends to travel round the country. But my love and passion for the game has kept me going. That being said, it hasn\u2019t always been a positive experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In some ways, the women\u2019s game has changed significantly over the past 15 year. For example, players are finally being paid for their time. In my earlier years, I had several experiences of being left out of pocket by representing my club.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There have been times when I\u2019ve had to wear kit which didn\u2019t fit, handed down from men\u2019s teams, and played at sub-standard facilities because men\u2019s teams had priority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It often felt like we should be grateful for anything we got. We were treated like an afterthought rather than an important part of the overall football club.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s promising to see the shift that has occurred in recent years \u2013 women\u2019s sport is now being appreciated in its own right. It\u2019s even capturing the attention of the mainstream media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Of course, one thing I haven\u2019t had to face as a barrier to football personally is ableism. But I see it happen to the people that I work with at Sense all the time. Ableist beliefs about what disabled people \u201ccan\u201d or \u201ccan\u2019t\u201d do present a huge block to getting involved in sports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We know that disabled people are twice as likely as non-disabled people to be physically inactive (Sport England, Active Lives Adult Survey, Nov 20-21<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Callan](\"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Callan.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nWhat women\u2019s football can teach us all about inclusion<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n