Christina

creative & strategic marketing with a focus on purpose & kindness. ⚽️💕✨🌈✨💕⚽️

[Christina @cinachip]

@j_richo1990 @KatieSveinson @DrBClarkson @sportinaus Great article! Thank you 👏

[Christina @cinachip]

@ChrisMinnsMP Great start. But where’s the real commitment and ��?

[Christina @cinachip]

@isobelcootes Agree!! Way too many England songs!!

[Christina @cinachip]

Love this -#Matildas 👏👏 #TilitsDone @TheMatildas 💪⚽️💚💛

[Charlie Pickering @charliepick]

We don’t deserve the @TheMatildas
#Tilitsdone

[Christina @cinachip]

Absolute. Scenes. #FIFAWWC
Thanks #SamKerr #Matildas

[Christina @cinachip]

This. Is. Everything. #TilitsDone #FIFAWWC Thank you @TheMatildas

[MFWitches @MFWitches]

Let me tell you a story about being a sporty woman in Australia today.

And why it’s relevant to the #Matildas win.

This story started when I was 2 years old and my grandpa registered my younger brother for membership of a football club after his birth … but didn’t do this for me or my older sister when we were born.

It continued when I was 7 and my other grandparents won a big trailer raffle and saved the new basketball in it to give to my younger brother *in front of my older sister and I* as he was their oldest grandSON.

It continued when I was 12 and the school banned all girls from playing footy on the oval at lunchtime because sometimes when we kicked the ball our knickers showed (and we weren’t allowed to wear shorts).

It continued when I was in Year 12 and won the Open Cross Country Run event at school, yet that night my father asked my younger brother how he performed in the run (he came 7th or something) and my father didn’t ask me how I went till my mother made him. (My father was a kind, decent man who never deliberately hurt me but was also very much a product of his time.)

It continued when my son played Under 10’s Aussie Rules and I ran water for the team the entire year but when it came time for end-of-year photos, the team coach wouldn’t allow the women team helpers in the photo (but my boy’s father who was the team runner and all other men helpers were in the pic).

This is an incomplete list. And yes, it’s very minor in the general scheme of oppression and discrimination faced by so many people in so many ways.

But almost every woman on earth has stories a bit like (or very like) mine, and they hurt. Because while most men certainly face unfairness in their lives, they don’t face systemic oppression just for being male.

Yet for women such stories are part of the fabric of our lives. We never know when the harm will come or how much it will hurt, but we’ve been psychologically braced for it at all times since we were little girls.

There are stories in the media already about the kinds of harm some Matildas players have faced since they were little girls, too.

One of them talked about how she was forced to play for boy’s teams when younger and sometimes had no team at all: because she was a girl. One talked about her club having no women’s toilets or other facilities, which made their games very difficult. Others have spoken about the years and years where they played to crowds of just a few hundred, and have had to continually fight tooth and nail for fair conditions and pay (which was only kind-of achieved just a couple of years ago).

This means their current achievements are even more extraordinary, because they were gained despite a cacophony of oppression and male derision running like a poisoned stream alongside everything they did on a sporting field (and off of it).

It means the sheer guts they displayed last night is even more remarkable because they all had to overcome the myriad ways others tried to undermine their confidence at every stage of their sporting lives, as well as focus on the game.

And still, they had the courage and mental toughness to stand up and win.

For this reason, they’re true heroes in ways that male sporting stars rarely are. And this is why we women are so proud of last night’s victory, and so utterly absorbed by it.

We recognise the unbelievably difficult slog it is just to survive in a world dominated by men’s power. We’ve all (in sport, and elsewhere) suffered the hurts of being regularly ignored, laughed at and demeaned.

So the victory feels like a victory for all women, and an even bigger victory for the little girls who’ll suffer a little less in future because those incredible women have eased the path for those coming after them.

There are literally no words for how wonderful they are, for what we owe them, and for how much we wish them well for whatever comes next.

Forever and ever, let’s play like GIRLS.

#PlayLikeAGirl
#TilitsDone

[Christina @cinachip]

Shut up Brian!! 👏😂

[Dr Kasey Symons @kaseysymons]

Excellent!

Shut up Brian! 😂

[Christina @cinachip]

@Reidyfour 💔

[Christina @cinachip]

Honestly - it makes me a bit emotional too @TheMatildas. Let’s go!! 💛⚽️💚
#FIFAWomensWorldCup
#FIFAWWC
#Matildas
#TilitsDone

[Adam Peacock @adampeacock3]

In a little over a minute Ellie Carpenter sums it up as well as anyone can

[Christina @cinachip]

Let’s go @TheMatildas !! 💚⚽️💛
#TilitsDone #FIFAWWC
⚽️🔥⚽️💪

[Samantha Lewis @battledinosaur]

AND NOW THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT US. #Matildas #FIFAWWC

[Christina @cinachip]

#TilitsDone 💪💚💛⚽️
The never say die spirit of @TheMatildas is inspiring a nation!

This is the time to invest in women’s football!!
What an opportunity for savvy brands… DM if you’re looking for partnerships.

[Craig F̶o̶s̶t̶e̶r̶ @Craig_Foster]

All of Australia will be tuned into @TheMatildas Round of 16 match, Mon night.

They’ve completely captured our hearts ❤️ and yours.

The unifying power of the multicultural game is now evident to us all.

We’ll need Federal Govt support to excel @AlboMP

#FIFAWWC #Matildas

[Christina @cinachip]

“Women’s football has been growing. Women’s football is a product that makes a profit, that is a pleasure to watch. Keep supporting!!” Marta 🙌🏻

[Stan Sport Football @StanSportFC]

Marta might have delivered the most passionate and emotional farewell to football that you'll ever see 🇧🇷

An icon signs off with a message to the world.

#FIFAWWC #OptusSport

[Christina @cinachip]

So true @abbieherway 🙌🏻🙌🏻

[HER WAY @herwaysports]

Having received a few emails (sometimes last minute) but also seeing what’s happening out and about on social media, here are some thoughts I’ve had about how big sports events should include those who do all the grassroots work 365 days a year

[Christina @cinachip]

🔥⚽️🔥

[Christina @cinachip]

@KieranPender @mPinoe @DawnScott06 Great article - so much more to come in the performance space !!

[Christina @cinachip]

@KieranPender @mPinoe @DawnScott06 👏👏👏

[Christina @cinachip]

@moyadodd Love to see the world coming together during WWC. Fantastic 💚💛👏

[Christina @cinachip]

@AnnOdong Enjoy it all Ann⚽️💚💛

[Christina @cinachip]

@Reidyfour @FootballAUS @MatildasAlumni Love to see it! 👏👏👏

[Christina @cinachip]

This is our legacy @FIFAWWC
🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻@TheMatildas

[Professional Footballers Australia @thepfa]

With the @FIFAWWC kicking off this Thursday, our @TheMatildas have a message for those who paved the way. For those who broke down barriers and fought for progress. For the past. For the future.

For those within our football community, our fans, our sponsors, our politicians, our administrators. And for @FIFAcom, who can deliver a legacy for all women and girls who play the beautiful game ⚽

#ThisIsOURLegacy