Pride Month: Celebrating the Foundation’s ‘Just Proud’ football sessions

Earlier this year, our Foundation started running a Monday evening football session for members of the LGBTQI+ community at Tottenham Powerleague.

As Pride Month is celebrated across the country in June, members of the Just Proud group have been celebrating this new-found opportunity to exercise and build friendships.

There is no doubt as to how much it means – Chris Painter drives from Cambridgeshire to be involved, teacher Cat Nawrat has been inspired to start a girls’ football team at her school and Jo Thorpe has felt confident enough to play football for the first time in her life.

As another group member, Dan Lille, said: “If you see our group chat after each session, everyone’s sharing photos and saying how wonderful it was to be part of.”

Foundation programme coordinator Renee Hector said: “It’s been really important to us getting people from the community together and having fun in a non-competitive environment – you’ll only ever see smiles and hear laughter on the pitch here! Diversity is our strength, inclusivity is our guiding principle and we ensure everyone, regardless of background, has a place to belong.”

Some of the Just Proud players are also members of Proud Lilywhites, the Club’s LGBTQI+ supporters’ association that celebrated 10 years in February.

Chris is one of them and makes a round trip of almost two-and-a-half hours to take part every Monday evening.

He said: “It’s nice that, with the help of the Foundation putting on this group completely free for us, the Club supporting their LGBTQI+ fans is more than just tokenism. They’ve shown they genuinely care.”

Nic Shoults is another Proud Lilywhites member, sitting on the group’s committee, and has been at Just Proud sessions since week one. They live in Enfield and play in the LGBTQI+ London Unity League.

They said: “It’s massive [being able to play among other members of the community], especially because I’m transmasc non-binary. There’s no team that would accept me outside of the queer world. You talk to people here, they understand what you’re saying, they’ve been there and done it. You forget how much you normally have to explain when you’re talking to people in different communities. There’s no hiding here. Everyone can just be themselves and you don’t get that elsewhere.”

The camaraderie between the group extends beyond the football pitch, with some members meeting up before Spurs games. Nic has also managed to watch a game sitting alongside Cat.

The primary school teacher can see Tottenham Hotspur Stadium from her flat and has been wrapped up in football fever since moving to the area.

Cat said: “I’m in charge of sport and PE at my school. Through being inspired coming here to Just Proud, I decided I was going to take the warm-up activities and games I’ve picked up, and start a Year 5 girls’ football team. It’s an hour after school for them. It’s a deprived area and it’s a nice bonding activity for them to get involved in.”

Jo is another local resident who is benefiting from Just Proud.

She said: “The first time I ever played football was here. I was worried about not knowing the rules and those kinds of things, but it wasn’t as scary as I thought. I don’t think I’d ever have joined a football league, but it’s such a mix of people here and for a lot it’s their main exercise of the week. Come down and even just watch the first time if you don’t feel comfortable playing.”

Dan, from Loughton, Essex, added: “I absolutely love these sessions – they’re so valuable, give you a real sense of belonging and have increased my confidence both playing football and socially. We all love football, so no matter who we are or how we identify we come along each week full of positivity, and, without any judgment, play and just enjoy ourselves for an hour. It’s great!”

Just Proud is one of many Foundation programmes supported by the Premier League and Professional Footballer’s Association. Administered through the Premier League Charitable Fund, funding helps football clubs tackle inequality and respond to local challenges, supporting people and their communities to be more inclusive.

Sessions run every Monday from 7-8pm at Tottenham Powerleague. For more information, including how to register, email renee.hector@tottenhamhotspur.com.