Shinfield Rangers Partner with WUKA to Support Girls in Football

Shinfield Rangers Football Club is delighted to announce a new partnership with WUKA, supporting our commitment to creating a positive, welcoming and inclusive environment for the girls and young women across our club.

With girls now making up nearly half of our club, supporting the female game is a major part of our plans for the future. We want girls to enjoy football, develop their skills, make friends and, importantly, have the opportunity to continue playing as they get older.

Our partnership with WUKA is one small but important step towards making that happen.

How it started

The idea came from something very simple.

One of the mums at the club put together a small period pack for her daughter's team, making sure the girls had access to period products if they needed them while at football.

It was a thoughtful and practical idea, but it got us thinking about the wider club and asking:

Could we be doing more to support our girls as they get older?

The answer was yes.

Periods are a completely normal part of growing up, but they can sometimes make taking part in sport more difficult. Whether it's worrying about leaks, experiencing discomfort, not having the right products available or simply being unsure about what to expect, these are all things that can affect a young person's confidence.

And the numbers show that this is something worth addressing.

According to WUKA, 71% of girls avoid being active while on their period, while one in two girls drop out of sport after primary school. WUKA also reports that 78% of girls who drop out of sport leave sport altogether.

Other research highlighted by WUKA found that 39% of girls said their period was a barrier to taking part in sport, with concerns about leaks and discomfort among the reasons girls may choose not to participate.

For us, those figures reinforce why providing the right support matters.

Supporting girls to keep playing

We don't want a girl's period to be a reason she feels she can't attend training, play in a match or continue playing football.

Our partnership with WUKA will help us develop a period support programme for our girls' teams, with period products available to players of an appropriate age.

The aim is simple: if a player needs something while she's at football, it should be there for her.

The products will be available discreetly through the relevant teams, allowing players to access what they need without having to make a big issue of it.

Just as we provide first-aid equipment, water and other essentials to help our players enjoy football safely and comfortably, this is another way we can look after our players.

More than products

The partnership isn't just about providing period wear.

We will also be exploring opportunities with WUKA around period education and confidence, helping young players understand what is happening as their bodies develop and how they can continue to enjoy sport throughout their cycle.

We also want to provide useful information for parents and appropriate guidance for coaches, so that everyone around our players feels comfortable supporting them.

Most importantly, we want to create an environment where periods are simply seen for what they are — a normal part of life.

There should be no embarrassment, no fuss and no reason for a player to feel she needs to hide it.

Growing the female game

For Shinfield Rangers, this partnership forms part of something much bigger.

We want to grow girls' football at the club and create a pathway that allows players to stay involved for as long as they want to.

Getting girls onto the pitch is important. Helping them stay on the pitch is just as important.

There are many reasons why young people may stop participating in sport as they get older, and we can't remove every barrier. But if there are practical things we can do to make football a more supportive environment, we believe we should do them.

Our partnership with WUKA is one of those things.

A simple idea that could make a difference

We'd like to thank the mum whose original idea started this conversation. What began as a simple period pack for one team has encouraged us to think about how we can better support girls across the wider club.

We'd also like to thank WUKA for sharing our ambition to help more girls feel confident and comfortable taking part in sport.

At Shinfield Rangers, we want every girl to feel that football is a place where she can play, develop, make friends and belong.

Because supporting girls in football isn't just about what happens during training or on match day.

It's about making sure they have every opportunity to keep playing.

Shinfield Rangers Football Club x WUKA

Supporting girls on and off the pitch. ⚽?

Play. Enjoy. Belong.