‘They inspire me’: Alessia Russo on empowering young girls and giving back | OneFootball

“She’s just so cool.” “Is that her? Is that really her? I didn’t think she was that blonde.” “Even her clothes are cool.” Alessia Russo is a footballing Pied Piper and the teenage girls following her down the path from the five-a-side pitches to the full-size one at Haringey’s New River Leisure Centre can’t contain their excitement.

Russo has just watched the final of the Alessia Cup, an evolution of an annual girls’ tournament organised by the London-based charity Goals 4 Girls. This year it was staged in partnership with Russo’s newly launched Alessia Russo Foundation and Sky. The broadcaster’s involvement comes in the wake of its Public First report, which found that girls in the UK are missing out on 280 million hours of sport every year.

Right now, some of those girls are crowding round the Arsenal and England forward. She is signing everything: the new Alessia Cup kits they’re wearing, the new Adidas boots, balls, bags, hands, whatever a marker will write on.

Russo has come straight from training and stays for as long as possible. She watches the final, engages in a Q&A with the 180 girls, hands out medals and hugs, presents the winning team – Chislehurst School for Girls – with their trophy, poses for photographs and then greets everyone in the giggling, bustling queue waiting to meet her as the sun sets over the 3G pitch.

The energy is electric and contagious, and Russo feeds off it. “They inspire me,” she says. “I just see myself as a normal person. It’s crazy to see how much of an impact we have. It brings you back down to earth and it’s great to get to connect with some young, talented footballers.”

Russo had wanted to find a way to give back for some time, and the launch of her foundation is the outcome, the tournament a statement of intent. But a player’s time is valuable. “That’s the hardest part – the time,” says Russo. “But a few hours out of my afternoon is OK. Stuff like this is so rewarding.

“When you get to where we are, there is so much that comes with it, pressures and highs and lows. Doing something like this is a real switch-off from that and it’s something we’re all passionate about as players. We all know the growth of the game is happening really fast, but we also know where we all started. That’s what’s really unique about the women’s game, because we’re all looking at what we can do to leave it in an even better place.”

Russo – twice a Euros-winning Lioness and European champion in Arsenal’s colours – is the perfect partner for Goals 4 Girls because the three pillars of her foundation – participation and reducing the number of girls that drop out of sport, helping girls pursue their chosen career paths and promoting female health – align with its own mission statement.

Goals 4 Girls has been growing its tournaments and Russo’s involvement has been a powerful addition. “The girls having a role model face to face on the day shows them what’s possible and makes them feel counted, seen and heard,” says Francesca Brown, Goals 4 Girls’ founder. “It makes the impossible possible, it bridges that gap between the dream and reality.”

A key part of the tournament is focusing on what the girls did away from the matches on the day. Brown describes it as a wellbeing tournament. “We wanted to make sure it was a carousel event, so the girls were always doing something,” she says.

“One of the major statistics which shocked me last year was that there has been a 65% increase in child mental health admissions in England in 10 years, between 2012 and 2022 [according to research carried out by the University College London’s Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health]. We wanted to make sure we were engaging the girls on issues that will impact their mental health and give them tools for managing it.”

There were dance workshops, three v three friendly games with the caveat that they had to partner with a new team and mix their players, a meditation zone and workshops on breath work, staying grounded and how to bring down anxiety. Then there were Sky punditry workshops, an Adidas’s boot van and Goals 4 Girls’ own tent highlighting its work. “This was an impact tournament and about making sure that we bridge the gap between opportunity, access and inspiration for the next generation,” adds Brown.

Russo says: “When I was a kid, memories of tournaments lasted a long time. Hopefully it will be the same for these girls. When we’re at the top of women’s football it’s nice to do things lower down and make sure that they all know that football’s for them. Being on the pitch is amazing and I totally want to win every game I play but stuff like this, seeing the passion of these young girls, means a little bit more.”

The response to the tournament has been strong, and the winning team watched Arsenal’s 1-1 draw with Chelsea from a box at the Emirates, where there was a meet and greet, too. “These are things that these girls can only imagine,” says Brown.

It’s a full circle moment and it’s just the start. “Long-term I want it to achieve a lot,” says Russo of her foundation. “My ideas are probably way too big. When I was in school I was fortunate enough to have really good people around me. I know that not everyone has that support, it can be tough and I want to be part of backing girls.”

The tournament is also about empowering the girls and their teachers. Brown says: “Hopefully it encourages and inspires the girls that took part to go into their schools and speak up for what is right and that the teachers that came go and advocate for change so that girls get equal access, equal opportunity and equal pathways as well – that’s what we hope the bigger picture is.”

Header image: [Photograph: Aneesa Dawoojee]