Accelerate Action brought together over 70 people to explore how sport drives change—from playground to pitch.

On 8 April 2025, Girls United hosted Accelerate Action: From Playground to Pitch at King’s College London. The evening brought together players, investors, journalists, academics, coaches, and advocates to explore how sport can be a tool for equity—economically, culturally, and individually.

The event was hosted in partnership with the King’s Women’s Entrepreneurship Network, with support from Lloyd’s Women’s FC, Amwins Global Risks, and Everest Insurance. It built on the Girls United methodology—Explore, Inspire, Empower- to ask what it really takes to accelerate gender parity in and through sport.

Victoire Cogevina: “This is the future.”

The evening opened with a keynote from Victoire Cogevina, Co-CEO of Mercury/13, in conversation with Girls United board member Steph Powell. Victoire shared how her first Girls United tournament visit while seven months pregnant helped spark the vision for her multi-club ownership company:

“I remember seeing all these girls so excited to play, and I kept looking around thinking, ‘This is the future.’ That event, directly and indirectly, truly inspired what then became Mercury/13.”

Victoire reflected on the lack of autonomy in women’s football: “Women's football doesn’t have financial freedom. They depend on men’s teams, on federations, on foundations. That means they’re not allowed to make their own decisions and own their own future.”

She added: “I built the first pitch deck for Mercury/13 45 minutes before giving birth to my daughter. Everything I do is for her.”

And on building sustainable structures: “The biggest responsibility we had in building this company was making sure the clubs we acquire don’t create new dependency—but actually sustain themselves over time.”

Her message was clear: “The women’s sports audience has been silent, underserved, and completely untapped. They're half the world—and they’re ready.”

Investing in the full value of sport

In the first panel, Lauren Domfe challenged the way we define impact: “I think it’s about reorienting how we look at economic value. Especially beyond sport—it’s the coach, the mentorship, the moral support. There’s real social value in that.”

She also reminded us that identity in sport is broad and inclusive: “You don’t need to define yourself as the best in the sport to be a sportswoman. Sport doesn’t have to be your whole identity for it to be valid.”

Kayla Lennox addressed the structural gaps: “There is no product right now at governing body level that provides proper cover for women’s sport. It’s left to individuals to figure out their own private insurance—which is expensive and often out of reach.”

She continued, “We want to invest early—so players don’t have to self-insure or rush back to work or sport. That’s what leads to re-injury, and it’s preventable.”

Laura Edwards spoke to the confidence and life skills sport builds: “In sport, I learned I had to fail in order to succeed. That’s something school doesn’t always teach—but it’s essential to life.”

“Leadership, resilience, trusting your body—sport gives young women confidence that carries far beyond the pitch.”

Culture, Visibility and Belonging

The second panel focused on cultural change in sport. Anne Onwusiri began by recognising the grassroots spirit of women’s football:

“In my eyes, women's football always started as an anti-culture kind of thing. Most people that played sport probably didn't have a team to play with, so they started their own women's team, or had to dress up as a boy, or pretend to be a boy, to be able to fit into this team and be able to do what they wanted.”

They continued, “I think there's always that element of rebelliousness that I think women's sport will always have.”

And they challenged the room to do more: “It's important that we bring along people that are even more marginalised- trans women, people of colour- and use sport to raise their voice.”

Suzy Wrack called out the structural inequities in funding: “Women's sport is expected to prove that it can make money before it gets investment. And that is the opposite of every other business we know- you have to invest money to make money. So we're fighting that in every single arena, which is kind of mad, especially when men's football... have huge, huge debts. Why is it that women's sport and women's football is having to prove itself all the time?””

Jack Badu reflected on the role of authenticity: “I think the space has to be genuine. If we're making promises to young people about what they're going to gain from sport, we have to follow through with that.”

He also highlighted the power of consistency: “If you do care, you're going to be there every single week. And I think in terms of community-based sessions, that's where you get real joy, because you can see that development through that young person.”

Jack closed with a nod to Girls United’s impact: “The reason I thought Girls United was a great organisation is because of the people that were working within it. There will be struggles with pitches, there will be struggles with funding. But actually, if you have a collective grassroots organisation that has a strong foundation, you actually don't need to look above.”

A Call to Action

Attendees joined a workshop to map solutions around visibility, access, media representation, coaching, and mental health. Over 30 pledges were made—from becoming coaches and mentors to launching funding initiatives and policy advocacy.

Girls United is already delivering on the majority of actions raised-providing affordable programmes, women-led coaching, inclusive sessions, and career pathways across London and Mexico.

Accelerate Action made it clear: the barriers are real, but so are the solutions. And Girls United is already leading the way.