A mixed stadium, “because it’s not just the boys who play football”

Racing players, girls and boys of all ages, workshops, educators, elected officials… There was enthusiasm around the “new” Alice Millat stadium, a public stadium open to all, in the Wacken district, in Strasbourg. And way more girls than usual, way more, and that was no coincidence. Designed by a resident of Strasbourg as part of the first season of the participatory budget, the synthetic football pitch has been “customized” and a special day was organized for its inauguration this Wednesday. Objective: to promote diversity in sport. Located on the sports island, at the foot of the European Parliament, it is quite a symbol. Just as the name chooses: the Alice Millat stadium, (1884-1957), sportswoman and French champion, activist in the fight for the recognition of women’s sport at the international level.

Purple panels (non-gendered color, explains an elected official), slogans, positive messages… Some goal nets are also purple. “It’s prettier,” explains a 12-year-old footballer. It’s not just the boys who play football, ”says the young girl.

A customized stadium, imagined and desired after an online citizen vote, whose objective is to give women space on the city’s football fields, for both women and men, to play together or separately , as an amateur or a professional, explains the city. Met close to the field, however, this does not mean much to Marek and Romain, two friends who have come to kill time around a ball. Not yet fortnightly, they are living proof that there is still a lot of work to do: a mixed terrain? “Is it bigger goals so you don’t miss? “, smiles one of them. The hints, shy, are born and multiply, even if one of them is tackled by another friend who reminds them of the “perfs” of the French women’s team. A little further on, Théo and Antonin find these new “pretty good colors”, even if they don’t seem to be convinced that this will change mentalities.

“Frankly, it’s not easy for a girl alone to come here to play football, there are only boys, but there was one who came”, recalls Antonin, proof that the exception does not make not always the rule. If they appreciate the colors and the positive messages along the handrail, they are especially waiting for next Wednesday and the end of the agitation to be able to recover the stadium. “It’s good that the girls also play football, especially when they play well. It is this operation, but it would be better to organize small matches with them than to have panels, advances Theo. Things are changing a bit, in clubs there are more and more women’s teams, and there are more and more women referees, especially in FIFA. ” ” Yes, it’s good but good, worries Antonin. If there are too many girls who come to this field, there will be less room for us, there are already not enough. »

Instead, “the boys will have to learn to share, it is a societal issue, insists Owusu Tufuor, deputy in charge of sport, sports and leisure equipment in Strasbourg. We are in a society where diversity must be the watchword. It is not because they are there the first that the girls do not have access to the field. The little space we have, we have to learn to share it”. For the elected official, the 15,000 euros invested for the new signage is a nice gesture from the city to encourage girls to practice a sport, whatever it is. “There is a real deficit of girls in sport,” he explains. A sign: “In the requests for sports license aid scholarships, it is 35% of female requests when it is 65% for boys. the gap remains huge. There is always the debate about the place of girls in society. It’s only a beginning. My dream is for the girls to storm this equipment, ”concludes the chosen one.