Football, community and gender : the case of Mgarr Utd ladies football team

Abstract

This research is about football, women and community – focusing on the case of the Mgarr Utd Ladies Team. The aim of this research is to take a deeper understanding at women’s football in Malta, and specifically the Mgarr Utd team. The two main research questions are: 1. Is football still thought to be a boy’s game? 2. Does being part of a football team give a sense of community? For this research I have opted for qualitative research, where I interviewed in depth ten players, who are over eighteen years of age and who currently play for the Mgarr Utd Ladies Team. The players came from the first team and the Under 19s, and since the latter is not yet fully formed the players of this team often play with the first team. The questions of the interviews were divided into 3 sections: demographics, gender-related questions and community-related questions. From this research I can conclude that football still tends to be associated with males, especially by males. Almost every respondent said that throughout her life she has encountered at least someone (parents, relative, friends, school mates) that has exclaimed that football is not for girls or that has opposed to her decision. At the same time many have also mentioned that the mentality seems to be changing and people are more accepting towards girls who are passionate about playing football. With regards to community, I can conclude that there is a strong link between the whole team and the staff. This was confirmed by every respondent and also by the amount of years that the respondents have spent playing for this team. Every respondent confirmed their sense of belonging to the team by mentioning the pride they feel by forming part of this team, and how Mgarr Utd is their second family.