Football Australia + LEGO Group encourage women and non-binary footballers to play unstoppable in new campaign via Chisel
Football Australia has launched a localised content series in partnership with LEGO Group and produced by Chisel, building on the global “PLAY UNSTOPPABLE” campaign, telling unapologetic, undivided and unwritten stories of women’s football.
The content series has emerged through OUR GAME, an initiative of Football Australia’s Legacy ‘23 Plan, which aims at harnessing the power of football to build an inclusive and diverse game that embraces, positively influences and elevates women and girls, ultimately promoting the unique culture of the women’s game.
OUR GAME was developed as an avenue to build excitement and momentum ahead of the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023, which kicks off on 20 July 2023.
Through the Legacy ’23 plan Football Australia is committed to building an enduring legacy for football beyond the global tournament, and in doing so become the first Australian sport to reach gender parity in participation.
Says Sarah Walsh, Football Australia’s head of Women’s Football, Women’s World Cup Legacy & Inclusion: “Through OUR GAME we are sharing individual stories from the community, to help shape the future of women’s football as we continue to push for greater representation of women from all walks of life.”
Says Emily Mays, film director, Chisel: “When it comes to women’s sport, the power of storytelling can never be overstated. We really wanted this series to bring diverse voices to the table from all different areas of football and give them a platform to tell their story.
“It’s been a really special journey getting to know the people in this series and bringing to light the work they are doing behind the scenes for generations to come.”
The PLAY UNSTOPPABLE series highlights the grassroots stories of football players, administrators, and teams across Australia, with the films titled UNAPOLOGETIC, UNDIVIDED & UNWRITTEN featuring:
● Angelica Georgopoulos (Admin Manager, Sydney Olympic FC & Junior VP, Strathfield FC)
● Assmaah Helal (Head of Operational Growth, Creating Chances)
● Samantha Lewis (Football Journalist & OUR GAME Media Mentor) & Annabel Martin (USYD NPL Player)
● Edge Hill United Football Club (CAIRNS, Qld)
Ultimately, the objective of the series is to amplify OUR GAME and in turn, elevate how women and girls are represented in football and perhaps more importantly invite new participants to engage with football.
This campaign is rolling out across BVOD, YouTube and paid social and it will also be played during the FIFA Fan Festival at the OUR GAME Community Hub activation across Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane sites.
Client – Football Australia
Communications Manager: Monique Williams
Production: CHISEL
Executive Producer: Pat Sidoti
Senior Producer: Emma Whitehouse
Producer: Grace Hawkins
Production Assistant: Nidhi Daithankar
Director: Emily Mays
DP: Peter Danks
Editor: Ben Bowles
Grade: Peter Danks
21 Comments
So exhausted by this avalanche of woke garbage. It’s been 10 years now.
just say that you don’t like women, dude
Women playing football is no longer new and in Australia no one is standing in their way. So instead of focusing on a guilt trip wrapped up as inspo, we should just focus on how epically talented these players are. Do content that genuinely lifts them up and treats them as gods, able to do things no one else can. Women’s football is not a charity, it is amazing. We don’t treat male athletes like this, so why should we treat female athletes like this? BTW this is not a diss on the team who did this, because this is an industry wide issue. We are all guilty of being like: ah shame, poor girl athlete, we will make a film to make you feel better.
Either David didn’t watch the films or David isn’t interested in changing his mind.
Thanks for your views, David, I’d have to respectfully disagree with some of these points based on the data Football Australia provided us, the legacy program initiatives and goals, in particular the participation parity targets they seek to achieve, and this content series, is just a small part of a larger body of work that seeks to continually drive change and inspire women to pursue the sport. You can check it out here https://www.footballaustralia.com.au/legacy23
There are still a myriad of barriers to participation; examples include not having well-lit and decent enough bathroom facilities at grassroots levels and not having enough women leaders in the sport. In sports Journalism (especially Football journalism), there is currently not gender parity, not only in football, but in a range of sports. In football participation, there is no parity and there is a considerable dropoff among teens.
These stories are about visibility more so than shame or guilt trips. They were sourced and told by women in the football community, so that others can see a pathway to participation in the sport, whether it be in working in the industry or playing the game.
The FA have the below mission :
“To elevate, inform and unleash a community of energised believers to own and drive the future of women’s football.
Our goals are to help increase awareness and visibility of women and girls in football through storytelling that celebrates, and fosters a culture that welcomes more women and girls to our game.
The FA looks to Facilitate access to participation opportunities by communicating the resources and programs that can assist women and girls to become involved in the game.
And we want to transform how women and girls see themselves, their involvement in football and provide an opportunity for them to shape and own what the future looks like. ”
And fortunately, the feedback from the community we are targeting, (the football community, mainly women and girls) are responding positively.
I agree with you that content that “lifts them up & treats them like gods” is super important, the Matildas are doing an amazing job of that already in everything they are doing on and off the pitch, and in terms of advertising I’ve loved watching the NIKE “Flip the Game” campaign and the global Lego “Play unstoppable” football campaign do the heavy lifting of that too, however, there is still a need to connect directly to the community we want to inspire, via pathways and this is what this content series is about.
How rare!
A balanced, considered and well written post.
Agree 100%, by the way.
Huh? Where’s the Lego?
Seamless integration of the brand into these pieces. Not only makes me like Leggos a lot more but also makes me want to go out, buy a whole heap of it and cook up a storm for all my friends.
The brand sponsoring this isn’t Leggos the pasta sauce (if it was I’d agree the integration is subtle but logical) it is LEGO the bricks. The relevance to the brand is the joy of play but that is very easy to miss. This risks talking to itself and not being understood by viewers.
This is how you do it!
https://youtu.be/yOOb52AJOzo
Love that they’re supporting female athletes, and their different journeys. But I’d love it if LEGO did more than just some content that will only be seen on this blog. Feels a bit self-serving you know? If you have this big platform idea, then really get behind it. And maybe that big brand push work is still to come from LEGO… But agree, NIKE really do women’s football justice.
yawn.
It’s building bricks for kids. Not a political ideology.
I am a woman…
I switched off before the film got to the branding. LEGO, apparently. It doesn’t go far enough. Literally. Since all the action takes place in the kitchen, why isn’t it a commercial for LEGGO’S?
Woke off.
Asking for a friend.
Could you give us what your definition of ‘woke’ is please?
Empty “feel goods” rather than doing good. But go back to Reddit with your “source” screeching.
Lol, nah man.
Ah I see… so you’re also able to see into the future and prove that this will do no good. What would you define as ‘doing good’?
This isn’t Q&A. Get some thoughts of your own.