The 8th of March was Girls United’s 5th anniversary – it’s been quite the journey. I started this month at the London Impact Awards, spoke to Nike’s Global and London teams about the work we do and closed last week running one of our biggest event days yet. A few thoughts that have stuck with me during these weeks: The momentum of the women’s movement is necessary and inspiring but it won’t be enough for ingrained social change. It has been incredible to experience the rise of women’s football parallel to that of Girls United’s, we’ve been riding the wave of growth and have seen increase in support and participation. This IWD has been amazing and the women’s euros this summer will be massive. But everyone (sponsors, governing bodies, clubs, non-profits, individuals) must think about how we can take sustainable actions that will allow girls and women to have pathways all year round – actions that address the fact that, for a girl who dreams of becoming a footballer, facilities are available in off-peak hours, environments aren’t considerate of the female experience, competitions are few and far apart, pathways are full of dead-ends and potholes. Uprooting decades of stigma and lack of inclusive infrastructure that promotes longterm development requires stakeholders coming together to create well-rounded strategies. Football for females and non-binary people needs to be accessible across levels, ages, locations, backgrounds. Women’s football, quoted the fastest growing sport in the world, is at a crossroads. It has the opportunity to build values into its fabric, being an industry that puts the grassroots at the forefront and creates better societies. Let’s make sure we use this hype to give a microphone to those experts with real solutions, to engage new audiences permanently, to talk openly about the barriers that exist, to build finance models that aren’t reliant on charity and to show the world that this movement is unstoppable. Let’s let the game finds its own voice and set an example for all other sports industries.