Why I Fell in Love With Women’s Football

Professional Football Coach, writer of the book “Coaching football to Inspire”

After winning the 6x consecutive league title I had a bit of a reflection on my Why…

Why do I do what I do….deep down, not superficially…and this was what came out of my head, hope it resonates with you.

What made me fall in love with Women’s football was never only football.

Throughout my career, football has always been much more than a profession. It has been a space of competition, growth, discipline, and ambition. I have always loved the game, respected everything it demands, and given everything I have to it.

But over time, I realized that what moved me most was never only the game itself. It was always the possibility of impact. The chance to help people grow, to influence lives, and to leave something meaningful behind.

When Women’s football entered my life, I found that purpose in an even deeper way.

Where Purpose First Began

To understand that, you probably need to understand where I come from.

Sometime before I was fully immersed in elite football, I was always drawn to social causes. After graduating, I chose to work for several years in one of the toughest neighbourhoods outside Lisbon. It was not an easy place, and it was certainly not glamorous, but there was something there that mattered deeply.

There were people. People who had been overlooked by society, people who had often been judged before being understood. Young people growing up without the same opportunities, without the same access, and often without the same belief from the world around them.

I stayed there longer than most expected because I realized very quickly that my role was never just about work. It was about purpose. It was about helping people believe they could become more than the labels placed on them.

It was about giving them tools, opening perspectives, changing mentalities, and showing them that where they started did not have to define where they finished.

That experience shaped me forever. It taught me that real impact is not made only through nice word, speeches, but through presence, consistency, and genuine care. It taught me that leadership is not authority, it is service.

It taught me that leadership is not authority, it is service.

Finding the Same Purpose in Women’s Football

Because in Women’s football, I found much more than athletes trying to win games. I found women building something bigger than themselves. I found players fighting for space, for respect, and for recognition. I found professionals helping reshape the future of the game.

They were not only competing for trophies, but also creating something that extends far beyond the pitch. Every match became a reference point. Every performance became a message. Every moment of resilience became an example for others watching closely.

What moved me even more was what this represents outside the game.

Because when young girls and women see strength, discipline, leadership, and resilience performed at the highest level by women, something shifts. It is no longer abstract. It becomes real and visible. It becomes proof. Proof that ambition has no gender. Proof that leadership can look different. Proof that space is not given, but taken and built.

Proof that ambition has no gender.

These players are not only role models because they play football. They are role models because of how they carry themselves through pressure, how they respond to adversity, and how they continue to push forward even when the path has not always been easy.

And that influence does not stay inside stadiums. It travels into schools, into workplaces, into homes, into everyday life. It shapes how young women see themselves and what they believe they are allowed to become.

That is where the real impact lies.

I always say football has the power to change the world. People often hear that as a romantic phrase, but I mean it very literally.

Football Changes Individuals, Communities and that changes, the World

Football changes individuals long before it changes leagues or institutions.

A player discovers confidence she never knew she had. She learns discipline, resilience, accountability, and responsibility. She learns how to fail, how to rise again, how to trust others, and how to lead.

Football gives identity, structure, and belonging. It can save people from the wrong paths and lead them toward purpose. Sometimes, a football pitch becomes much more than a field, it becomes a place where people rebuild themselves.

Football also changes communities.

A team becomes representation. A club becomes pride. A neighbourhood feels seen because one of its own made it. Families come together around shared dreams, and young girls suddenly have visible role models standing right in front of them.

Supporters begin to see Women’s football for what it truly is: football at its purest, full of passion, sacrifice, honesty, and truth.

That visibility matters because representation changes belief. When people can see themselves in the game, they begin to believe they belong in it.

And football changes the World because sport reflects society.

It exposes inequalities, but it also creates opportunities to challenge them. Every investment in Women’s football is bigger than sport. It is a statement about equality, respect, and progress.

Every professional contract, every full stadium, every young girl wearing a jersey with pride, and every woman taking leadership in this space sends the same message: you belong here.

That is why I fell in love with Women’s football.

Why Women’s Football Feels Different

Women’s football carries something powerful. There is an urgency. A clarity. A refusal to simply accept things as they are.

There is a collective desire to keep pushing forward, to make the game fairer, more balanced, and more equal, not only for the present, but for all the girls coming after.

There is a responsibility that goes beyond performance. It is not only about winning matches, but also about opening doors, creating standards, and leaving the game better than they found it.

There is a responsibility that goes beyond performance.

I respect that deeply. I want to be part of that.

Legacy Over Trophies

I want my work to mean more than tactics, more than training sessions, and more than titles. I want it to leave something behind.

I want players to become stronger people because of the environment we created together. I want clubs to grow healthier cultures. I want communities to feel represented. I want young girls to dream bigger because they saw women before them refuse to settle for less.

Trophies matter. Winning matters. Excellence matters.

But legacy matters more.

Women’s football gives me the chance to combine both worlds I care about most: human impact and high performance.

It gives me competition, but also connection. It gives me ambition, but also meaning. It gives me football, but also a mission.

And that is why I did not just join women’s football.

It is why I fell in love with it.

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