Strategic initiatives to increase the player base in Portuguese women´s football: recruiting and retaining retaining better

The present project with the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) derives from its 2015 strategic plan with the purpose of evaluating present and developing new strategic initiatives to broaden the player base in women’s football in Portugal. The theoretical analysis of sport participation determinants establishes Green’s Pyramid Model of Sports Development (2005) as the baseline for the assessment and design of strategic initiatives, by introducing the three necessary tasks in sport development: Athletes’ recruitment, retention and advancement. Building on strengths, such as credibility and a large network of partners, the FPF needs to address challenges regarding unregulated linkages to other associations and clubs and a lack of early recruitment initiativestobenefit from women’s football’s significant growth opportunities. From the benchmarking analysis of other European football federations and qualitative expert interviews with players, coaches and club management in Portugal several strategic options emerge and further deepen the understanding of successful sport participation factors, which allow for a better evaluation of present and future strategic initiatives. In accordance with the analysis and based on FPF’s strengthsand weaknesses, the following recommendations are derived and subsequently translated into solutions: 1) The design of deliberate play programs and early recruitment, 2) the development of football in schools to create participation opportunities, 3) the need to address and dissolve gender stereotypes in football, 4) the importance of diversification in program design and placing emphasis on social systems and motivations, 5) the facilitation of players’ transition and advancement and at last 6) the importance of strengthening the relationships to district and regional associations (ADR) and clubs. With a weighed focus on impact, the different solutions are evaluated and streamlined, allowing for a more detailed program design and a first outline of an implementation plan for the two most significant strategic options