Be Football Mentoring - Shaping the Future

The Be Football Mentoring programme is now halfway through its second year and with just 5 months to go before the end of the programme, here is what happened at the Shaping the Future event at Dragon Park.

The day started with some networking between the year 1 and 2 mentees and mentors, followed by a watch party of the Women’s World Cup fixture between Australia and Ireland.

The FAW’s new Chair Alys Carlton began the day with an inspiring Croeso and shared some of her top tips around networking and authenticity. This then was followed by Kelly Davies, the Cymru Football Foundation Chair, delivering an insightful session on the capabilities needed to succeed in the new world and the importance of conscious empathy, the ability to work across teams and embracing change.

We were then joined by Visa’s Women’s Football Lead for Sponsorship Marketing, Liesel Jolly who shared her top tips on personal brand and how our mentees can use their platforms to be heard and communicate their values and beliefs.

The afternoon sessions saw our mentors and mentees split up. Claire Ewing
supported our mentors with a reflection and knowledge sharing session, discussing their journeys, nay challenges or success’ they’ve had so far during the programme.

The day then concluded with ITV Wales. A new partner of the Be Football mentoring programme, ITV share a passion for increasing the visibility and confidence of women in the workplace and provided our mentees with a media session on the day to get them out of their comfort zones.

Our mentees were given the opportunity to undertake interviews in front of a camera, being both the interviewer and interviewee in two different interviews they undertook with a partner they didn’t know a lot about. Kate Lewis ITV on-screen journalist, spoke about her experience as a woman in a male-dominated industry and gave us her top tips for increasing confidence whilst undertaking interviews.

Should you be interested in taking part in next year’s mentoring programme please keep a lookout on the FAW website and social channels in the coming months for how to apply.

Applications will be taken for the 2024 programme toward the end of the year.