Using the power of football to start tough conversations with young men
By Kieran Wood
As a former international athlete, I have first-hand experience of how sport has the power to shape and change lives. After I retired, I wanted to use this experience to help young people.
I joined Cambridge United Foundation as their Youth Engagement Officer, where I get to work directly with young people in our community to educate them on the issue of violence against women and girls and, most importantly, on how they can be part of ending it.
We do this through the Pledge United programme, which was developed by our partner Inspire Indonesia to use football to start conversations and provide education on the issue of violence against women and girls. Cambridge United Foundation are thrilled to be able to pilot this programme in the UK as we currently adapt it to the British education system.
The key message of this programme is this: gender-based violence is not a women’s issue. It’s a male issue, and all males have a responsibility to create a safer society through culture change.
The programme we are now running fits into a six-week half-term block and works with teenage students once a week during their PE slots. Delivered in a hybrid lesson format, the sessions start with football coaching and drills and conclude with a discussion-based session in the ‘dressing room’. The core trait we am to cultivate in these sessions is respect.
The first five sessions aim to take the students on a behavioural change journey from pre-contemplation to action, with the sixth session inviting participants to be a part of the change and commit to being allies to women.
Whilst not every man will be violent, the likelihood is that all men, at some point, will make a choice to remain silent in the face of gender-based violence. It is this silence and inaction that we are aiming to change. Everyone can call out behaviours that are unsafe and harmful to women and girls. By doing so, we can drive an important cultural shift.
White Ribbon is the UK’s leading charity working to end violence against women, and I want to be a part of the change. Becoming a White Ribbon Ambassador was a no-brainer for me as I look to continue to see how the Pledge United programme can grow in our city.
At the time of writing this blog, our pilot study in collaboration with Sancton Wood School saw 100% of the year-9 boys class commit to respecting women and challenge behaviours they see that do not align with commitment. We are also in the process of conducting this program with the under-18 scholars at the football club, looking at their future roles as professional footballers — and the platform that this will potentially give them — to model the healthy attitudes and behaviours.
As a White Ribbon Ambassador, my message to men and boys is this: we have a responsibility to end violence against women; don’t be silent in the face of violence or discrimination.
Kieran Wood is a White Ribbon Ambassador. He is the Youth Engagement Officer at Cambridge United Foundation and is passionate about trying to engage younger generations to enhance their well-being, self-esteem and futures. Through his personal experiences and having grown up at the Abbey Stadium, he understands how powerful a vehicle sport, and the football club, are in enabling this to occur and to combat issues that this generation face within society.