the roar of the crowd, the strategic brilliance on the pitch, the sheer athleticism – it’s the universal language of football. But for too long, a meaningful voice has been muted. Now, a powerful movement is gaining momentum, aiming to elevate women’s soccer not just to parity, but to its rightful place as the “queen sport.” This isn’t just about more players or bigger stadiums; it’s about a essential shift in perception, investment, and possibility.

Aintzane Encinas, a former Real Sociedad player and coach with over a decade of experience, is at the forefront of this charge. Having personally navigated the frequently enough-unfriendly landscape of women’s football, she’s intimately familiar with the dismissive whispers and outright prejudices. Phrases like women’s football is neither football nor feminine or football is not for ladies have been persistent roadblocks. These outdated notions are precisely what Encinas and her #SkiptheBarriers campaign, spearheaded by the Tximist Foundation, are persistent to dismantle.

The campaign, launched with support from the F League and the World Football Summit, draws its power from the lived experiences of women across all facets of life, including sports. In our entrepreneurship, in our process, on the road, in football. It means that we are overcoming manny things and that this happens in football too, that to score a goal you have to overcome the barrier, Encinas explains. The core message is empowering: The idea is that we are going to shoot above, we are going to put them aside to achieve what each girl considers, her dreams. Not listening to other people, but overcoming the barriers that we encounter along the way.

“We must attract more women to leadership positions in football, where we can decide, where we also impact other people and where our gaze also has a lot of value. We need more and more.”

Aintzane Encinas

The impact of this initiative extends beyond the pitch.Encinas emphasizes the critical need for more women in decision-making roles within football organizations. We must attract more women to leadership positions in football, where we can decide, where we also impact other people and where our gaze also has a lot of value. We need more and more, she asserts.This influx of diverse perspectives is crucial for shaping the future of the sport.

A significant stride is already being made on the coaching front. Every day there are more people prepared. More and more trained trainers are arriving. And many more to arrive, Encinas notes, highlighting a growing pool of talent ready to shape women’s football with its own distinct identity.The goal is clear: to cultivate a product that stands on its own merits, free from the shadow of its male counterpart.

Think of it like the evolution of women’s basketball.Once overshadowed, the WNBA has carved out its own passionate fanbase and distinct style of play. Similarly, women’s soccer is poised to become a standalone phenomenon. It is a totally diffrent product and we have to make football the queen sport, Encinas declares. Thay talk about men’s soccer as the king of sport. We have to make football, in this case played by women, the queen sport.

Achieving this requires a concerted effort from the entire ecosystem. That the industry bets, that sponsorships are much greater and that we have the possibility of seeing more women and that we consume that good product that is women’s sport, so close,