Adobe and Bloomsbury Football Foundation launch Kick & Create – girls’ only football camps, putting creativity at the heart of women’s football
When my two daughters were growing up, they didn't have as many opportunities to play football as my ten-year-old niece now does. That early exposure to playing football has made my niece fall in love with it. As a huge football fan who used to train a women’s team, this has also been a big part of why our role as lead partner of the Adobe Women’s FA Cup and our sponsorship of Camden Town WFC have meant so much to me personally.
At Adobe, our mission – to empower everyone to create – is the essence of who we are, what we stand for, and the core of our DNA. What this looks like in practice is giving everyone the tools, the opportunities, and the platform to share their ideas and stories with the world. We’ve brought this to life today by teaming up with the Bloomsbury Football Foundation to launch girls-only football camps that bring together on-pitch coaching with off-pitch creativity workshops to enable creative expression and inspire the next generation of girls to participate in the beautiful game.
Signing the perfect teammate
I’ve admired the team at the Bloomsbury Football Foundation for a long time. The charity’s Founder and CEO Charlie Hyman, alongside his amazing team, work tirelessly every day to make football more accessible, fun, and affordable for young people across London.
That’s why, together, we’re so excited to bring Kick & Create to the London boroughs of Camden and Islington. Taking place over the next two years during school holidays, our first camps will kickstart during the May half term.
What makes this initiative extra special is that we’re bringing two parts of the fabric of British culture together: creativity and football. We’ve seen, through competitions like the Adobe Women’s FA Cup and the success of our amazing Lionesses, just how powerfully the women’s game can inspire the next generation. Now we want to make sure that girls can see the impact they can make in all areas of football, both on the pitch, and in every creative role that surrounds it.
Through our camps, we will give more young girls access and the ability to create and adapt with digital tools so they can create their own videos, design their own kits, posters and mascots, along with so much more.
"At Bloomsbury, we see every day how having access to football builds confidence, life skills and a sense of belonging for young girls. By bringing Adobe’s creative expertise into our camps, we’re building something special. These camps send a simple but powerful message: girls belong in football, and their creativity matters.”
- Charlie Hyman, Founder and CEO, Bloomsbury Football Foundation
Getting to know grassroots football
Before launching Kick & Create, we wanted to understand the value we could bring to both young people and their parents. It led to us commissioning research into their attitudes towards football and school holiday activities, to make sure the camps were built around what girls in the UK actually need.
The numbers revealed that almost half of young girls (48%) say watching women’s football has increased their interest in playing. However, while 65% of parents would sign their sons up for a football holiday camp, only 47% would do the same for their daughters. Cost, availability and distance from home are the most common barriers to participation. The Kick & Create camps are heavily subsidised, providing financial relief to parents who need it most.
But this next finding shows exactly why these camps have such potential: when creative elements are part of a camp’s programme, girls are three times more likely to attend. Girls are also more likely than boys to return to camps for the creative opportunities, which tells us that creativity is what keeps them coming back long after the holidays end.
“As an ambassador for the initiative, former England and Arsenal footballer Karen Carney said: “I was once the only girl at my football camp. It was tough. That’s why I know how much it matters to have a space that genuinely feels like it was made for you. These camps do that. They take two things that many young girls love, kicking about a football and being creative, bringing them together in one safe place for girls to express themselves and have fun.”
- Karen Carney, campaign supporter, and former England and Arsenal footballer
Bringing fan creativity to the Women’s FA Cup Final
We're also inviting the British public to get involved! Our newly launched Adobe Fan Made competition, live today, will give you the chance to design patterns in Adobe Express that could feature on the kits worn by Bloomsbury mascots at the Adobe Women's FA Cup Final on 31 May.
For every design submitted, Adobe will donate £10 to Bloomsbury Football Foundation, funding additional Kick & Create camp places. Campaign supporter and Lionesses legend Karen Carney has already been working with young Bloomsbury players to design the official Adobe mascot for the Final. Now it’s your turn to create the winning kit design that mascots will wear. Enter the Adobe Fan Made competition yourself here.
Empowering everyone to create on and off the pitch
Whether it’s in the park, on the pitch, in the stadium or watching around the world, sports fans are sharing their love for teams and players in new creative ways. From our sponsorship of the Adobe Women’s FA Cup, our support for grassroots clubs like Camden Town WFC, and our partnerships with Real Madrid, the Premier League, the NFL and Major League Baseball, we’re helping players, clubs and fans get closer to the game they love. Now, with the launch of Kick & Create we’re taking our mission further, bringing creativity to the next generation, and who knows? Maybe even a future Lioness...