Playmakers employs innovative storytelling approach featuring much-loved Disney characters to help more girls see the fun in regular physical exercise and football

UEFA and Disney have teamed-up to develop a ground-breaking football programme that uses Disney’s world-renowned storytelling to encourage more young girls to exercise regularly and kickstart a lifelong love of football.

Inspired by academic research showing the positive role of storytelling in helping children take up sport, Playmakers also aims to increase the proportion of girls meeting the World Health Organization’s minimum standards for physical activity – currently, just 16%.

Targeting 5-8 year-old girls not currently playing football, seven UEFA national associations including Scotland will be first to roll out “Playmakers” through schools, clubs and local communities. More associations are expected to introduce the programme later in the year.

Movement, teamwork, imagination

Unlike traditional football programmes, each of Playmaker’s ten initial training sessions follow the narrative of Disney and Pixar’s billion dollar global box office smash hit, Incredibles 2. Equipped with footballs, bibs and cones, trained coaches encourage participants to play the roles of popular characters, such as Elastigirl, Violet, Mr Incredible and Dash, bringing the film’s action scenes to life through movement, teamwork and their imagination.

As Playmakers rolls out across Europe, new Disney storytelling will be added to the programme.

In its early sessions, Playmakers focuses on building girls’ confidence in their movement, encouraging creative thinking and communicating easily with their friends. Later sessions introduce girls to basic football skills, but the programme continues to put the emphasis on making sport fun.

Scottish FA Chief Executive Ian Maxwell: "The growth of the girls’ and women’s game in Scotland is a key priority for the Scottish FA, so the opportunity to partner with a global brand like Disney to encourage girls to take up football is a tremendous boost.
 
“Football is flourishing for girls in Scotland with the number of registered players across the nation growing by one-third since 2016.
 
“Our participation in the Playmakers programme will ensure that number continues to swell and will allow young girls the chance to be involved in football from a young age in a fun environment.
 
“This is a fantastic initiative set up by UEFA and Disney, empowering young girls through physical activity and encouraging them in a unique and innovative way to play football.
 
“Having the support of two global brands such as UEFA and Disney, both of whom have goals for girls’ and women’s football that dovetail with our own, should help to inspire a new generation of girls across Scotland to love football.”
                                       
Scotland National Team Striker Erin Cuthbert said: “This latest initiative from Disney and UEFA is fantastic and offers a new way for children to begin playing football.

“I absolutely love Disney, even at the age of 21, and when I was younger this is definitely something I would loved to have been part of.

“I can see a huge difference now in terms of the number of young girls taking part in football from when I was growing up, and playing in a boys team.

“Using Disney will not only make football even more enjoyable for them at a young age but will also hopefully increase participation levels even more.

“I can’t wait to see the positive effect that this programme will have across Scotland.”

UEFA-funded research into play-based learning

The play-based learning at the heart of Playmakers’ unique approach follows a literary review by Leeds’ Beckett University in England, which was commissioned by UEFA. The review assessed academic research into what motivates young girls to participate in sports, identifying best practice coaching methods to create a safe learning environment. Its findings put particular emphasis on the benefits of play-based education.

The programme is also the result of a knowledge-transfer partnership with the English Football Association (FA), who are currently running the “Shooting Stars” programme in partnership with Disney.

Time for Action

Playmakers represents a first step toward achieving one of the main goals of  “Time for Action” the UEFA Women’s Football Strategy – to double girls’ and women’s participation in football by 2024.

“It is UEFA’s duty as European football’s governing body to empower girls to play the game,” added UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin, “Through this partnership with Disney, we will open up football to an audience not yet engaged with our sport.”

Disney’s Healthy Living Commitment

Across Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), Disney has a long-standing Healthy Living Commitment, using its storytelling to get families more active and working to educate and inspire children about healthy eating. This has led to a variety of partnerships on inspirational campaigns, such as Public Health England’s “10 Minute Shake Up” which inspired two million kids to “get active” and register more than 100 million extra minutes of physical activity.

In Poland, Disney launched its successful #GetMovingWithDisneyJunior initiative, a campaign spearheaded by local sporting champions, which reached more than 30,000 youngsters. The campaign involved the creation of more than 30 films, which featured children exercising alongside Disney Junior characters.

Nicole Morse, Disney EMEA’s Vice President of Integrated Marketing, said: “This brilliant Playmakers initiative is another great example of Disney’s long-term commitment to help future generations lead healthier lifestyles. By using our much-loved characters and stories as a force for good, we can really make a difference and inspire families and children to be more active. So we’re very proud that by partnering with UEFA on the first pan-European girls football programme, we will encourage more and more girls across the region to get active, build their confidence and participate in playing football, all in an environment that has been specifically designed for them.”

Along with Scotland, Playmakers will launch in Austria, Belgium, Norway, Poland, Romania, and Serbia this spring, before a full pan-European roll-out.

Parents interested in Playmakers can visit http://www.uefa.com/playmakers