Bluebella has launched a campaign with England Lionesses for the World Cup to encourage teenage girls not to drop out of sport.
On the week of the launch of the World Cup, legendary Lioness Fara Williams, England’s most capped female player, and Chelsea and U19 England player Reanna Blades have teamed up with Bluebella lingerie’s #StrongIsBeautiful campaign to encourage girls to be proud of their bodies and keep playing team sports.
The #StrongIsBeautiful campaign is one that Bluebella lingerie has been running for the past seven years to try to improve teenage girls attitudes to their bodies, and get them back playing sport.
The London based underwear brand have previously worked with female Olympic athletes at the Rio games in 2016 and Tokyo games in 2021.
Bluebella CEO and founder Emily Bendell said: “We have to change the perception that the strong female form is not ‘feminine’. The idea that strength and femininity do not go together is a really damaging perception for keeping women in sport but also more broadly.
“We are thrilled that two these two Lionesses from past and present are supporting #StrongIsBeautiful and helping to challenge attitudes which are sadly still too prevalent.”
Fara Williams said: “There is a big drop off in women’s football around the age of 13. I have coached girls at that age and their bodies are changing so quickly and you can see that they really struggle with that. Often girls would come back after the six week summer break and during that time they had gone through a major transition into young women, looking different and feeling different. They struggle with what their body is changing into and often just want to cover up, and sometimes don’t want to put on a football kit and be more visible.”
Fara Williams was capped 172 times for England as a central midfielder in an international career that spanned over 14 years. The 39-year-old from Richmond, south-west London, played at three World Cups, coming third in Canada in 2015. She also played for Great Britain at the Olympics in 2012.
Reanna said: “Girls are not given the opportunities that the boys have. Facilities and kit are not as good, and there are often negative attitudes towards female players from the boys especially when it comes to competitions. Boys don’t want girls in their teams, they feel it’s not fair especially if they are playing against other all-boys teams.”
