UEFA Women in Football Leadership Programme: Class of 2024 set for lift-off
Thursday, August 29, 2024
Article summary
Women from across Europe recently convened in Lausanne, Switzerland, for a series of workshops and seminars designed to prepare them for senior positions within the game.
Article top media content
Article body
Thirty-four more women are ready for the next step in their careers thanks to the UEFA Women in Football Leadership Programme (UEFA WFLP), supported by presenting partner EA Sports FC.
Earlier this month, professionals from across Europe and beyond gathered in Lausanne, Switzerland, for the latest edition of the transformative UEFA Academy course, which empowers women with potential to advance their careers and take on senior positions within the game.
Launched in 2014, the UEFA WFLP builds confidence and teaches a range of leadership skills through a mix of team-building exercises, group activities and one-on-one sessions with experts from Lausanne's IMD Business School, the course's academic partner.
The programme has now provided benefits to more than 270 women, with the 2024 cohort enjoying their experience every bit as much as their predecessors.
The benefits of teamwork
"The course has given us the chance to take challenging situations that many of us have in common and work through them together."
"The course has given us the chance to take challenging situations that many of us have in common and work through them together," said Molly Hrudka, senior manager in digital and data strategy at the English Football Association (FA).
"We have different perspectives and different ways of thinking about how to achieve our goals, but the overall mindset is that, as women, we can be bolder and don't need to be afraid of that. We are changing the narrative and creating a space for women to be bold and make decisions."
Space for self-appraisal
"We often have no time to think about ourselves and our own development, so this course has really helped me with self-reflection, and afterwards I will be able to think more and understand what I feel," explained Tatevik Asatryan, head of the legal department at the Football Federation of Armenia (FFA).
"As women, we often apologise for our ambition, and I think we need to kick that far away into the past. Every woman should look forward and act because every idea is crazy until we have achieved it."
Estela Lucas Santos, director of intelligence and fan experience at the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF), also felt the opportunity to examine her own progress and capabilities made the UEFA WFLP an unmissable opportunity.
"The coaching sessions are incredible because you open yourself up and by doing so can understand more about yourself," she said. "You recognise the best version of yourself and realise where you need to develop to become even better.
"It's also so interesting because we have people from so many countries but who face the same relatable challenges as me. When we discuss them, we get different perspectives and ideas that make us all richer for the experience."
A programme supported by EA SPORTS
Earlier this year, EA Sports FC became an official presenting partner of the course, with six EA staff joining the latest edition.
Sehrish Mumtaz, EA Sports athlete marketing lead, explained the importance of such courses in terms of gaining confidence and growing both professionally and personally: "There are fears I admitted and spoke about in the course this week that I've never talked about and probably ignored. But I said them out loud here.
"I didn't know what to expect, but I really put myself into it and it revealed a lot of things about me, to me. The coaches played an important part in that, and I'm really looking forward to the one-on-one sessions. It's been really eye-opening."
"In great companies, you being the same as everyone else is fine. But your superpower is what makes you unique: your culture, background, gender. That is a superpower and don't hide it."
More about the UEFA Academy
Building on the professional excellence UEFA has established throughout its history and on learning initiatives developed over the last decade, the UEFA Academy inspires the education of people and organisations to help to continuously elevate the game.
Since its foundation, the UEFA Academy has trained more than 3,800 graduates from 170 nations around the world, offering 62 learning initiatives each year in a wide range of specialisms.