5 hours ago
6
I was walking my dog recently near some local football pitches and I could hear girls playing a match. When I first moved here 12 years ago that certainly wasn't the case.
In a relatively short period of time, that change has come. Those young girls stand on the shoulders of so many incredible women who fought for the right to play football.
I have worked for the BBC since 2007 and it has had a massive impact in growing women's sport over the past 20 years.
In 2019, I felt we had a game-changing summer.
A lot of women's sport was on the BBC, including the Fifa Women's World Cup. More than 11 million people watched England v USA in the semi-final, which was a record at the time - until Euro 2022 that is. That was a huge audience and it felt like a big shift in people recognising the stars of that tournament.
Fast forward to 2022 and it was when I was heading to Wembley to present the Euro final between England and Germany, I had this moment of realisation of how huge it would be if the Lionesses could win a major tournament.
I know that seems ridiculous as that is what the aim always is. But having covered men's and women's tournaments for a long time, it had never happened and it really felt as though the Lionesses were on the precipice of something massive.
So I opened my laptop and started bashing out some words I hoped I might be able to deliver at the end of the programme, depending on whether or not England had won. If they hadn't, I'd just shut the laptop and I'd never see those words again.
Luckily, Chloe Kelly made sure I could say them: "Is this a game-changing moment? Well, the record audiences on TV and crowds in the stadiums have been fantastic, brilliant. But to really move the sport on, we need you. If you've enjoyed it, get yourself along to a WSL [Women's Super League] game this season, even if you only go to one or two.
"The Lionesses have brought football home. Now it's down to the rest of us to make sure it stays here. You think it's all over? It's only just begun."
They came from a place of wanting people to really galvanise the spirit and actually put into action a lot of the words we'd been talking about.
The BBC has always realised the value in women's sport. Not just because it's important to see women playing sport, but because societally it's really important young girls have access to sport.
And this summer we're pushing the agenda a bit further.
We've got live coverage of the Women's Euros, which will feature Wales for the first time at a women's major tournament alongside defending champions England, the Women's Rugby World Cup and the World Athletics Championships. This is alongside Wimbledon, The Hundred and Queen's, where women will play for the first time in more than 50 years.
The Women's Rugby World Cup taking place in England is, I hope, going to be pivotal for that sport.
With the Red Roses being the team in the world that everyone wants to catch, it's fantastic to have a home tournament because you then get to create stars.
You only need to look at the way they have joy around their performances, the way in which they connect with their fans - and I think it's going to be really interesting to see how the country embraces them.
Obviously, the hope is we will see packed stadiums, enjoying the matches.
They have looked at the Lionesses and have seen what happened there, and they know for them this is their big moment.
The Lionesses are already household names but this summer, more names will be made.
