England legend Rachel Yankey on cutting off her hair to play football with the boys as Gatorade’s ‘Confidence Coaches’ aim to smash barriers and stop girls leaving the sport

Stars from men’s and women’s football came together at last week’s Champions League final to help break down the barriers holding young girls back in the sport.

Research has found that 40 percent of teenage girls lack confidence when it comes to sports, a key factor behind the increased dropout of female athletes as they get older.

To raise awareness and inspire young girls to continue exercising for longer, Gatorade, the world’s leading hydration drink, brought former England international Rachel Yankey, Manchester City and Spain defender Laia Aleixandri and World Cup winner Fernando Llorente to the girls’ 5v5 final at the UEFA Women’s Champions League final in Bilbao.

As “Confidence Coaches,” the three players spoke about their journeys in football, while Yankey shared a Gatorade Fuel Tomorrow-produced film in which she talked about confidence with a version of her younger self created using de-aging technology.

As a child, Yankey cut her hair and pretended to be a boy so she could play soccer.

Yankey joined Spanish defender Laia Aleixandri and World Cup winner Fernando Llorente during the girls’ 5v5 final at the UEFA Women’s Champions League final in Bilbao

Yankey played 129 times for England during a stellar career, scoring 19 goals

Yankey told Mail Sport: ‘We wanted to make a powerful video. It’s fantastic that a major brand is behind it, they saw potential in my story. They saw how powerful and inspiring they found it and wanted to get that message out.

“If you come here today to coach a group of girls, try to encourage them to enjoy sports. Whether you become the best and play in the Champions League final, or you just do something, there are so many life skills.

“What I learned from making the film is that my story is not just my story. I had heard that Sarina Wiegman had done the same [cut her hair short]this is not a one-off.

“But to think it’s still happening, there was a young girl I spoke to who is now a teenager and that was her story too.

‘How many more people are there and how much are we changing the face of women’s football and what are the barriers for people to play? That was perhaps the most eye-opening thing for me.

“There is a path now, but I still think there needs to be more opportunities for every girl to feel like they have a place to go and play football and be free to express themselves.”

Since its inception, the Gatorade 5v5 tournament has provided positive sporting experiences to more than 126,000 young athletes worldwide.

Yankey with the Women’s Champions League trophy at the Bilbao event last weekend

Manchester City’s Laia Aleixandri during the Gatorade five-a-side event in Bilbao

This year, 13 countries across Latin America, Asia, the Middle East and Europe will participate in all the tournaments, with an estimated 26,000 teenagers – 11,000 more than in 2023.

‘Nowadays they have all the facilities to play football, but with these facilities you also need trust [to play],” Aleixandri told Mail Sport.

‘They need to know that they have people in society who support them to play football and give them this energy.’

Former Tottenham striker Llorente, who won two major tournaments with Spain, was also present to give advice to the participants.

“It is important to try to increase their self-esteem,” Llorente said. “Maybe when they’re younger they don’t have as much confidence in themselves. To help them grow every day and make it easier for them to become more comfortable with sports.’

The goal is to increase the self-esteem of girls who play soccer so that they stay with the sport

Bart LaCount, Vice President of Marketing at Gatorade, added, “The Gatorade 5v5 Finals brings competitors together on a global stage and shows that every girl, regardless of background, can participate in sports and learn lifelong lessons and values ​​from sports.

‘Our research shows that 40% of teenage girls lack confidence in sport, an alarming statistic that has no place in today’s world.

‘No girl should outgrow her confidence, so we work with legends of football to be confidence coaches to inspire and motivate teenagers to play and stay in football. Their advice helps break down barriers and increase confidence.’