Arsenal Ladies’ under-10s and under-12s are in a league with boys from this season and an afternoon watching the younger age group reveals an environment which is helping the females to achieve their potential

If men are from Mars and women are from Venus, nobody told a bunch of girls and boys who spent their Sunday afternoon engaged in a highly skilled and hotly competed game of football. It is important to stress that this was not mixed football, but a contest that pitted boys against girls at under-10 level. It is part of a new initiative that has been introduced by the Football Association this season which permits girls teams to enrol in boys’ grassroots leagues.

Strange? Awkward? Complicated? Not remotely once the match kicked off. The beauty of this enterprise is that if there were any extra butterflies or surges of determination based on gender stereotyping, it all melted away with the referee’s whistle. With the kick-off, the entire focus for two seven-a-side teams was the game itself. Perhaps the only unusual moment was when one of the boys spontaneously yelled “woman on” to warn one of his team-mates that an opponent was rushing in. Not his usual vernacular but it did the trick.

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Apart from the obvious, there was very little between girls of Arsenal and the boys of AC Finchley who took each other on in the Watford Friendly League. An equal level of football obsession and a desire to do well, to try to fulfil those dreams of making it, underpinned every touch of the ball.

Arsenal are one of the clubs that have embraced this opportunity in an attempt to offer a more competitive environment for their elite girls’ teams to develop. Frankly, that had been an ongoing problem across the game because of the smaller pool of players compared with their male counterparts. It is relatively straightforward for a boy to find a team somewhere, whatever their standard. Up until this season, for the most talented girls selected to play for the top-tier clubs in English football, the environment was not geared up to best help them to push on because finding challenging matches on their doorstep was not easy. The case to play regularly against boys gathered traction.

Tessa Payne, the technical director for Arsenal’s Regional Talent Club who oversees the pathway for female players from five years old through to the Ladies first team, is a believer that pitting the best against the boys brings an invaluable experience. “The FA made a brave decision to be able to put a whole girls team into a boys league, which is quite different from just having one or two girls within your team,” she says.

It is not helping you to improve if you win 20-0 or 30-0. It is better to lose 1-0 against the boys

“We started to recognise that playing against boys – maybe not even at the exact same age group but by matching ability levels – was a really good test, a real challenge for the most exceptionally talented girls.

“We began to do that in friendlies. England use that in preparation for their youth games. It adds to their physicality, their speed of play; they are able to move, react, respond that bit quicker when they are challenged by the boys’ game. That is where they started to think if we are really going to try to push women’s football and compete on another level with those on the international stage, we need to do something at the bottom, to try to support the younger players to give them the best opportunities.” Mixed gender matches are now allowed up to the age of 18.

The girls evidently love it. Rimini Lowe used to play in a boys’ team and the opportunity to represent a professional club and be in an environment geared towards improving all the time is something she relishes. “I prefer to play against boys,” she says. “I think we can play against the boys all the way. There is never a limit.”

Her team-mate Laila Harbert is convinced it is the best football experience they can get. “It is not helping you to improve if you win 20-0 or 30-0. It is better to lose 1-0 against the boys because we learn loads and that is what helps you to become a better player. I’d like to go as far as the Arsenal Ladies first team and play for England.” Olivia Bartlett captures the spirit within the entire camp when she says that playing against boys “feels normal”.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The Arsenal coach Rupen Shah, here addressing the team at half-time, says: ‘You really see the benefits. I asked the girls recently what they thought and they unanimously said they would prefer to play in a boys league.’ Photograph: Antonio Olmos for the Guardian

Payne acknowledges it has not been plain sailing all the way. There were a few dissenting voices in the committee meetings across the leagues. Then there was the small matter of convincing everyone it was the right thing – some parents needed educating about the benefits for their daughters, and some opponents had to overcome their reluctance.

“There have been some interesting faces when the girls have turned up,” Payne explains. “Parents and coaches look like they are not quite sure how to respond. A little bit cautious at times. ‘They are girls?’ We had a coach who said: ‘I am a dad. I have daughters. I am a bit worried about these boys going in and tackling the girls. I wouldn’t want a boy to go in with a heavy tackle on a girl.’

“I said: ‘Don’t worry about it. They are footballers. Just look at it like that.’ At the end of the game the coach said we had a fantastic group of great players with a great attitude that want to learn. He is now one of our biggest supporters.”

The AC Finchley boys seemed unfazed. As one of the goalscorers, Mel Telemachou, explains: “It is a normal game. I am not really going to pull out of a tackle because then we are going to lose the game. Girls can be good footballers. Anyone can.” Mindsets are changing.

The game with AC Finchley was closely matched from a technical, physical and competitive point of view. The boys won because they were more ruthless in attacking areas, which is something the Arsenal squad – who in familiar style are educated in a passing style – are working on.

Stevie Kotey, the AC Finchley coach, was impressed. “The first time we played we were really apprehensive, we didn’t know what to expect. But as it turns out within two minutes of playing them the boys feel it is just another game. The boys see it as genderless. I have got so much respect for the way they play. No matter what the result, they play out from the back, they pass and move, they compete.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest AC Finchley seemed unfazed to be facing girls. ‘It is a normal game,’ said one boy. ‘I am not really going to pull out of a tackle because then we are going to lose.’ Photograph: Antonio Olmos for the Guardian

Arsenal’s under-10s have at their disposal a far more professional set-up than their male equivalents in the league. The under-10s and under-12s get four hours of training per week plus a match on Sunday. “They are getting A- and B-licence coaching, goalkeeper coaching, strength and conditioning work, sports psychologists, physiotherapists, nutrition,” Payne says. “The idea is it is not just about developing them technically, it’s what we do to develop the whole player. We also have parent workshops to support the parents. There is a lot going on.”

They also had the benefit recently of an overseas trip. Olivier Giroud secured an invitation to a mixed Futsal tournament near his home town close to the French Alps.

It is all part of a steep learning curve for the girls, in an attempt to encourage them to troubleshoot and deal with new tactical situations at a more intense pace. The under-10s probably have it easier than the under-12s, who have found it harder to adjust to playing against the boys. It is a little less innocent, and physically the challenge is trickier to bridge especially as the girls teams play in two-year age bands, so if you have a boy pushing 13 against a girl who has just turned 11 the difference is marked.

As Payne points out, finding the right level – the appropriate league and division – is paramount in the search for a relatively even match. “It has been a challenge but if you are going to be an elite female player ultimately you need to be regularly challenged,” she notes. For those with top potential the opportunities to learn are there to be seized. One of Arsenal’s best under-16s girls goes once a week to train with the club’s academy boys.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The teams pose after the match. One of the girls says: ‘It is not helping you to improve if you win 20-0 or 30-0. It is better to lose 1-0 against the boys.’ Photograph: Antonio Olmos for the Guardian

All in all, the girls feel certain they are fast-tracking development. Rupen Shah, on the coaching staff of the under-10s, has been at the club for eight years and is sold on the potential of girls v boys matches. “It is the best experience they have had in all my time at the club. You really see the benefits. I asked the girls recently what they thought and they unanimously said they would prefer to play in a boys’ league.”

After the post-match handshakes, it took a bit of persuading to get the two teams to shuffle up close for a joint team photo, but in the end the gap was closed to leave one big group of ambitious, happy footballers.