'It's anyone's game' - Leeds United Women captain Catherine Hamill on why role models are so important

I’ve seen women on Twitter attending Leeds away matches - it’s nice that they feel comfortable enough to go along, when thirty years ago it was a completely different story.

They aren’t feeling intimidated the way they used to.

It’s changing across the board. When I was at the Centre of Excellence, we had pitches that we’d have to check beforehand, finding rabbit holes and filling them in to make sure you’re not tripping up.

But now they’ve got better facilities, they monitor fitness using trackers, they have strength and conditions coaches, and are training and playing more.

The younger age groups compete against boys, as well, to help with the physicality. In that sense, I think it’s come a long way. People are realising that it’s important for both boys and girls and men and women - it’s anyone’s game.

It’s helped in the past few years that there have been successful female pundits.

You didn’t expect to see women on football coverage when I was a kid.

When you tune into Soccer Saturday nowadays, there are so many women reporting live from the stadiums.

I liked the old team, but they’ve done a complete revamp and it’s much more diverse now, with the likes of Bianca Westwood and Sue Smith getting involved - both brilliant.

And Laura Woods on TalkSport - you’re not just seeing these women, but hearing them too.

It takes a while for people to get used to seeing something new, but it only needs a couple of people setting examples to encourage others.

This is why role models are so important. Alex Scott, for example, she was one of the first women to do it. She talks sense, brings fans in and makes them feel comfortable.

I can see the effect that it’s having. On Twitter, I see a lot of females having opinions on sport. And the men are listening.

When I go to games, I’ll be sitting next to some random guy and you end up speaking about the match - I don’t feel like I’m a woman speaking in those circumstances.

I think in ten years’ time, we’ll look back and think it’s mad that we didn’t have more women involved in football. Attitudes are changing.

One of my Leeds United Women teammates, Rachel Hindle, is leading the way. She is the Lead Performance Analyst at Blackburn Rovers - such a cool job.

Before our game on Sunday, she’d been up in Lancashire showing Tony Mowbray and his players what she’d been working on.

I asked her if she was nervous. To start with, yes, but she sees them all like brothers now - some of them watched her play against Bradford City.

I’m writing the dissertation for my Sports Exercise and Science degree on the experiences of women in football.

This week I’m starting to interview girls I know through playing, a range of ages - 16/17 year olds and 30/35 year olds - to see what the differences are.

I’m looking forward to hearing what they’ve got to say. It has changed - there’s a lot more acceptance of women in football now.

But I still think there’s a long way to go.

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