女子休閑足球的興起

文/卡倫·麥克維 譯/焦琳 審訂/任東升

More women in England are making up for the decades when they felt shut out of the game.幾十年來，女性都被拒于足球場(chǎng)外，而今有越來越多的英格蘭女性在彌補(bǔ)這一缺憾。

It’s Saturday-morning 11-a-side at a football pitch squeezed between a scrubby path running along the River Lee Navigation and a technology campus in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park,Hackney.A dark-haired woman in red defies a gaggle of defenders with a skilled pass to the front.“Yes! Beginner’s debut, right there,” yells coach Julie Leaff at the top of her Mancunian lungs.The player breaks into a grin.

周六早場(chǎng)的11人制足球賽打響了，場(chǎng)地就夾隱在利·納威伽什河畔灌木叢生的小路和倫敦哈克尼區(qū)伊麗莎白女王奧林匹克公園科技園之間。場(chǎng)上一位紅衣黑發(fā)的女球員越過一群后衛(wèi)的攔防，嫻熟地將球傳至前場(chǎng)?！皩?duì)了!新手亮相，就這么踢！”教練朱莉·麗芙喊道，這大嗓門一聽就是曼徹斯特人。那紅衣女球員聽了沖她咧嘴一笑。

2參賽球員中很多人是頭一回上場(chǎng)踢球，大家吵吵鬧鬧，結(jié)下深厚友誼，歡聲笑語極具感染力。這次球賽實(shí)際是克萊普頓社區(qū)足球俱樂部（CCFC）組織的無門檻訓(xùn)練。這類基層體育活動(dòng)英格蘭還有上千個(gè)，隨女子足球的興起如雨后春筍般涌現(xiàn)。這類培訓(xùn)不同于其他，并非只鼓勵(lì)年輕女性和女孩參與，而是對(duì)所有年齡層開放。

2The camaraderie and joy on the pitch, where women are playing football, some for the first time, is noisy and infectious.This is Clapton Community Football Club’s open access training,one of thousands of grassroots sessions in England that have sprung up as women’s football has advanced.Unlike many targeted at encouraging young women and girls to take up the sport,however, it is for all ages.

3“We wanted it to be open to older women,”said Leaff, 54, co-founder of the training session for women of all ages and abilities.“We wanted mums who watched their kids play, to realise they could step over the line and play themselves.”

4Leaff, who teaches at Grasmere primary school in Stoke Newington,and co-founder Ellie Guedalla, 45, who works in children’s services are part of the “l(fā)ost generation”, football fans whose gender meant they missed out on the opportunity to play and to develop in the sport when young.

3“我們想讓年長(zhǎng)些的女性也有機(jī)會(huì)踢足球?！?4歲的麗芙如是說，正是她與人共同開辦了上述足球培訓(xùn)班，向所有女性開放，不論她們的年齡和身體素質(zhì)如何?！拔覀兿Ｍ春⒆犹咦闱虻膵寢寕円庾R(shí)到，她們完全可以跨進(jìn)球場(chǎng)，親身體驗(yàn)足球?！?/p>

5My own football journey began at CCFC open access after the pandemic hit.In my fifties, I had never kicked a ball, knew nothing about the sport but loved the training.Last year, I was asked to join a spin-off vets team, brazenly named Hot Flush, and now play most weeks in a five-a-side women and non-binary people’s league, Super 5.

4麗芙是斯托克紐因頓區(qū)格拉斯米爾小學(xué)的老師，45歲的埃麗·圭達(dá)拉則在兒童服務(wù)機(jī)構(gòu)工作，兩人一起開辦了足球培訓(xùn)班。她們屬于足球運(yùn)動(dòng)“迷惘的一代”，盡管從小熱愛，卻因身為女性而無緣足球，也無法在這個(gè)領(lǐng)域有所發(fā)展。

5我自己的足球之旅始于疫情暴發(fā)后的CCFC訓(xùn)練。我50多了，從沒踢過一下足球，盡管一竅不通，可我就是喜歡踢。去年，有支退役重組的球隊(duì)拉我入伙，我們“大言不慚”給自己取名叫“潮紅隊(duì)”，目前大部分活動(dòng)周都在踢專為女性和非二元性別人群舉辦的五人制“超級(jí)5”聯(lián)賽。

61921年，英國(guó)足球協(xié)會(huì)不允許有女子職業(yè)足球俱樂部存在，認(rèn)為女性踢球“不成體統(tǒng)”。直到1971年這項(xiàng)禁令才解除，但這也給足壇性別歧視埋下了禍根，遺患至今。又過了20年，英國(guó)足協(xié)才成立了一個(gè)女足委員會(huì)，并在1993年舉辦了首屆女子足協(xié)挑戰(zhàn)杯。

6The Football Association barred women’s professional football from its club grounds in 1921, deeming it “quite unsuitable” for females.The ban, only lifted in 1971, set the tone for the sexism that still prevails in football today.Two decades passed before the FA established a women’s committee, with the first women’s FA challenge cup in 1993.

7But since the pandemic, many women in their 30s, 40s and 50s appear to be making up for lost time.According to Sport England’s Active Lives survey, covering 2020-21, a higher percentage of women aged 35 to 54 have participated in the sport at least once in the past year or become a member of a football club than ever before.

8Guedalla, who played for Wanstead Girls as a child, said: “Our generation never got to play in PE, let alone in the park.Me and Julie both played and we got called ‘It’, ‘What’s it’.That was normal in the 70s and 80s.”

9With some football foundation cash from the CCFC, they set up the open access sessions in 2019.From a handful of people back then, the membership has grown to more than 100 today, with players aged between 22 and 60.

7但自新冠疫情暴發(fā)以來，我們看到不少30、40、50多歲的女性似乎正在補(bǔ)上她們?nèi)笔У淖闱驎r(shí)光。英格蘭體育委員會(huì)2020—2021年度的運(yùn)動(dòng)活躍人群調(diào)查顯示，在35—54歲的女性群體中，過去一年參加至少一次足球運(yùn)動(dòng)或加入足球俱樂部的，其占比處于歷史最高水平。

8圭達(dá)拉小時(shí)候在旺斯特德女隊(duì)踢球，她說：“我們這代姑娘從來沒在體育課上踢過足球，更別提上公園踢了。我和朱莉都當(dāng)過球員，那會(huì)兒別人稱呼我們都用‘它’，‘那個(gè)什么’。這種事在七八十年代稀松平常?！?/p>

9有了CCFC足球基金會(huì)的資金支持，兩人在2019年辦起了無門檻足球培訓(xùn)。剛開班那會(huì)兒沒幾個(gè)學(xué)員，到現(xiàn)在會(huì)員人數(shù)已經(jīng)漲到了100多，從22到60歲的都有。

10Research shows a significant increase in participation in football among women and girls after the 2019 Women’s World Cup, increasing by almost half a million among the over-25s.

10有研究顯示，2019年女足世界杯后，參與足球運(yùn)動(dòng)的女性人數(shù)顯著增加，且25歲以上人群增加了近50萬人。

11Guedalla is passionate about the power of football for wellbeing, fitness and a sense of community.

12“When women come together things happen,” said Guedalla.“You put on a shirt and you’re part of something.It’s about fitness, fun and of course, the beautiful game.”

13Women talk about the optimism it has brought to their lives, and of the joy of pulling on a team jersey, of playing with others of all ages, of standing a bit taller1stand tall感到自豪。as part of a team.They talk about the therapeutic benefits of exercise on their bodies, on menopausal symptoms and on the way they feel.

14A few weeks ago, in Lancing, a coastal village near Brighton, Sussex County FA held its annual women’s recreational football festival.There were no scoreboards, tallies or trophies.The emphasis was on fun.But the same collective crescendo2crescendo（音樂的）漸強(qiáng)；逐漸增強(qiáng)的喧鬧聲。of cheers, recognised all over the world, greeted every goal,cutting through 1970s classics like Bang Bang blasting out of a loudspeaker on the pitch.

11足球有益身心健康，加強(qiáng)社區(qū)意識(shí)，這種能量讓圭達(dá)拉對(duì)足球充滿熱情。

12“女人聚堆兒，就能成事兒。”圭達(dá)拉說道，“隊(duì)服一上身，你就是球隊(duì)的一分子，為的就是健健康康、快快樂樂，當(dāng)然啦，踢起球來也是英姿颯爽的”。

13女性們表示足球讓她們有了樂觀的精神面對(duì)生活，而且樂趣非凡——穿上隊(duì)衣和不同年齡的人一起踢球，作為球隊(duì)的一分子貢獻(xiàn)力量，讓人更有成就感。她們還說踢足球能提升健康狀態(tài)、緩解更年期癥狀、改善心情。

14就在幾個(gè)星期前，在蘇塞克斯郡布萊頓附近的一個(gè)海濱村莊蘭辛，英國(guó)足協(xié)舉辦了一年一度的女子休閑足球節(jié)。場(chǎng)上沒有記分牌，不做數(shù)據(jù)記錄，也不頒發(fā)獎(jiǎng)杯，就是踢著玩。但有一樣全世界都不變，那就是每進(jìn)一球，全場(chǎng)觀眾就齊聲歡呼，歡呼聲一浪高過一浪，穿透了在場(chǎng)上用揚(yáng)聲器播放Bang Bang等1970s經(jīng)典歌曲的震天響聲。

1 5球場(chǎng)的事就先說到這兒，聽聽5 5歲的卡蘿爾·貝茨怎么說。7年前，她創(chuàng)辦了克勞利老姑娘俱樂部，克勞利鎮(zhèn)足球基金會(huì)和英格蘭足球聯(lián)盟信托基金也給予了一點(diǎn)資金支持。貝茨說:“看到足球?qū)σ恍┡缘纳硇慕】祹磉@么大幫助，我是又驚又喜。我們這兒上6 0的老太太都還滿場(chǎng)跑搶球，真是神了。還有個(gè)叫蘇珊的，都7 6了，來我們這兒上健走足球課。我都能從她們臉上看出那種洋溢的愉悅，真希望我7 6歲的時(shí)候也能這么享受踢球。”

15Taking a break from play, Carol Bates, 55, who founded Crawley Old Girls (Cogs) seven years ago, with a bit of funding from Crawley Town Football Foundation and the English Football League Trust, said: “To see what it does for some women’s physical and mental health is amazing.We’ve got women in their sixties running around tackling like legends.We have a 76-yearold, Susan, who comes to our walking football session.I watch these women’s faces and you see that joy, I want to do that when I’m 76.”

16At 66, Viv Moore, a retired teacher from Crawley, is the oldest member of COGs.She began playing three years ago.“It gives you a chance to get in touch with your younger self,” said Moore.“When I score a goal, I’m like a child,I get so excited.It’s such a lovely sense of achievement.”

17Kim Joselyn, 61, a community centre manager, recalls hiding her football kit in a hedge as a child, fearful of the reaction from her mum.She went on to play for Shoreham and Brighton in her 20s, but only recently returned, to play for Cogs.“They are all great girls.They bring you out of yourself.I would be lost without them.” ■

16退休教師薇芙·莫爾已經(jīng)66了，克勞利本地人，是俱樂部里年齡最長(zhǎng)的，三年前開始踢球了?！疤咦闱蚓褪墙o你一個(gè)重返青春的機(jī)會(huì)?！彼f，“我進(jìn)個(gè)球就樂得跟孩子似的，那個(gè)興奮啊，成就感滿滿?！?/p>

17金·約瑟琳是社區(qū)中心主任，今年61歲。她回憶說，自己小時(shí)候還把踢足球的行頭藏到樹籬下，就怕媽媽看見不高興。20多歲時(shí)，她開始為肖勒姆和布萊頓效力，最近才回來在克勞利老姑娘俱樂部踢球。她說：“姑娘們都很棒，能把我最好的狀態(tài)激發(fā)出來。沒她們我就蔫了?！?□