The Hartlepool United HerGameToo team are delighted to announce an official partnership with the club. The club and ourselves have put a lot of effort into getting this done, but this is where the real work begins.
We now want to hear from you, our female fanbase. It doesn’t matter how long you have been a HUFC supporter. Whether you been following for 5 months, 5 years or 50 years, all your opinions matter to us. Are you a dad to young girls and want to make sure the matchday experience is enjoyable of them? Or are there any couples who have been following the boys in blue together?
Have any of our female supporters got any stories about their time coming to the Vic to share with us?
Do you work at the club on the turnstiles, security, bar staff, hospitality, or play football? You’re all included too. We are looking to write a blog and have regular programme articles to champion all of you……. any girl or woman who is involved in the sport, or men who have worked with or promoted females in the game. We can be contacted via email: hartlepoolunitedhgt@outlook.com, Twitter: HUFC_HGT, Instagram: hgt_hartlepoolunited
Following our awareness day back in April we have also managed to form partnerships with the Hartlepool United Supporters Trust and Excel Medical Services (who provide the matchday emergency medical personnel). Just last week our Hartlepool United Women have partnered up and we look forward to working with them to help promote the team and increase their support from across the town and region.
We have also had productive discussions with Marty from The Hart of Our Club to help us work with the local clubs that make up the Hartlepool United Youth Alliance. HerGameToo can help support local grassroots teams in the development of girls playing football.
Some of you may have noticed small improvements already, like the addition of free sanitary items in most of our female toilets around the stadium. We are working on a reporting system that we will advertise soon and can be used by anyone wishing to report any sexist abuse, whether it is directed at them, or they witness it happening to someone else.
Nationally, the campaign has continued to grow with 7 Premier League clubs and 52 of the 72 EFL clubs now working with HerGameToo with more in talks to join. The number of ambassadors, advocates and campaign advisors is also increasing. Men and Women are now making this a fantastic diverse group who all have the one aim of removing sexism from football. We recently had our very first male player advocate. Richard O’Donnell, who is the Rochdale goalkeeper, has joined us and is a fantastic role model. He has a daughter of his own and feels very strongly about equal opportunities for women and girls in football. He has spoken about how he hopes to encourage other players to come on board with HerGameToo, as it’s important to get the support from the players on the pitch. Richard says “For me, it’s not just about womens football, it’s about discrimination in general and about having equal opportunities. I feel quite strongly about that, having my wife, my mum and a daughter, and I think those conversations are really important.”
We couldn’t put it any better….
Jill & Emily