Successful women’s footballing festival in Italy

On Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 April, the Italian Football Association, supported by FIFA, organised a Grassroots Festival in Rome following Women’s Football Day in the country. Over 4,000 girls between 8-14 years old took part in 22 events all over Italy which comprised of technical and educational activities. Mini-games took place according to the various age groups, while they were also encouraged to illustrate their footballing dreams, with the winners selected by Italy’s women U-20 side. Over 175 girls took part in the main event at Rome’s Stadio Flamino following the successful Technical Conference for Women’s Football. Gianni Rivera, the President of Italian FA’s youth division, Mayi Cruz Blanco from FIFA and Karen Espelund from UEFA took part in the Opening Ceremony. Some of the leading figures in Italian women’s football such as Rita Guarino, U-17 assistant coach, U-20 stars Elisa Lecce and Roberta Filippozi and Pamela Gueli, who was part of the winning UEFA U-19 Women’s Championship side interacted with the participants, not only by talking about their experiences but also by joining in the fun. The event closed with everyone sharing pizza, with a good time had by all.