‘It’s all fun and games until someone gets poked in the eye’: experiences of players within women’s community football leagues

This study explored the experiences of 14 players who took part in women’s 11-a-sidewinter football (soccer) leagues in Australia. Interviews informed by a social constructionist approach were conducted to examine experiences of social safety within community (grassroots) football spaces. New insights regarding the experiences of players in women’s football leagues show that players go to great lengths to maintain their physical and psychosocial safety, however they are often at risk of injury or attack due to failings in the sport system. The findings that community football is more expensive in Australia compared to other community sports, despite it being one of the most played team sports in the world, calls into question the way that local councils and elite football organisations charge individual players at a community level. Future directions include taking an intersection of players’ experience into account when directing funding and development strategies for community football.