Lotte Wubben-Moy on being the catalyst and her World Cup Doodle Diary

Lotte Wubben-Moy was a catalyst for young girls at her school playing football as a child. Then last summer, she was a catalyst once more as the Lionesses tried to ensure every girl at school had equal opportunities in the sport she loves. Now she is hoping this World Cup will inspire even more girls to be the catalyst for change at their school.

Wubben-Moy loved football as a kid and when Olga Primary School didn’t have a team, she set one up alongside her former teacher Paul, someone who she described as being one of the biggest influences on her career.

Fast-forward almost 20 years and Wubben-Moy was one of the main drivers behind England following up their historic first-ever UEFA Women’s EURO title by all 23 players writing a letter to prime ministerial contenders Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss, calling on them to ensure girls have equal access to physical education and football in school.

Wubben-Moy has since had follow-up meetings with members of the Government and in March it confirmed it would provide girls with equal access to football in schools, as part of an all-sports pledge.

Speaking on the latest episode of England’s daily show Lionesses: Down Under connected by EE, Wubben-Moy said: “Visibility is so important. The fact that we’re on TV and young kids can look up to us and dream, it’s what every current and past Lioness would have liked to have had when we were kids. 

“So I think we’re just doing what we wish we could have done for our younger selves and do our younger selves credit.”

She continued: “There’s a lot of talk that can happen around the subject. And quite often, talk can cloud our ability for action.  

“Last summer we obviously spoke a lot about it but then it was the action of writing the letter to the Prime Minister and following that up with lots of meetings that ultimately got the reform through and ensured they committed £600m for girls to go to school and play football. 

“As much as we can put it into action, that’s where the difference is made.”

Wubben-Moy was speaking to another member of the squad who signed the letter last summer, former team-mate and EURO winner Jill Scott, and her co-host on Lionesses: Down Under connected by EE, Kyle Walker.

The daily show asks fans to submit their questions and one of those came from Andrew Young, who said: ‘How can I encourage people in my school to get more involved in sport?’

The Arsenal defender replied: “There is so much power in doing it with other people. The focus should be on groups of young girls and groups of young boys doing it together because of the power there is within that. 

“Often it takes a catalyst to inspire other people. Maybe some girls haven’t ever thought of the chance to play football but then if one of their mates is doing it, they might think they want to try it too. Do it in a group, do it together. 

“Ultimately that’s when you get the most enjoyment out of it, when you’re sharing experiences like we are here together as a team. 

“Obviously, we’re a few levels up [with England] but that’s not to say that participation at school and grassroots isn’t equally as important as it is at the top level and all the way through.”

She continued: “You don’t have to end with becoming professional. All the skills I learnt when I was a young player – confidence, being able to communicate – those soft skills are so important. 

“That’s part of the reason why we as a Lionesses team are so passionate about getting every young girl the access at school to play football. It’s because of how amazing it is to be empowered by other young women. To be comfortable within yourself playing football and playing sport, it’s so underrated.”

Wubben-Moy is similarly passionate about using other tools to expose young children to sport.

Our Cup, Your World. this year’s colouring book makes breakfast time into footy time . kids across London at community centres + free school meal locations will be getting creative this summer … enjoying a bowl of cherrios + some colouring with a World Cup match 💚💚💚 pic.twitter.com/vkkqf5JAiL

— Lotte (@lottewubbenmoy) July 25, 2023

One of those is art, with the centre-back producing a football-related colouring book alongside her sister in advance of the tournament and the 24-year-old is also, like at last year’s EURO, producing a ‘World Cup Doodle Diary’.

She explained: “As much as we can remove barriers to entry, particularly in football, is a good thing. 

“Some people learn visually, some learn reading books. But also, when you look at following a football game, kids might not sit down for 90 minutes but they might interact with a picture of someone scoring a goal, or a picture of an armband that a captain wears. 

“That’s my take on getting kids involved and making it easy for them to engage with football in any way possible.”

here we go again.. 2023 World Cup Doodle Diary 💙🧡❤️💛🖤💚 pic.twitter.com/DLoKYuZW8v

— Lotte (@lottewubbenmoy) July 21, 2023

She continued: “My approach to art and doodling is that anyone can do it. You can probably just doodle on a napkin and it would be something exciting, something cool. That’s my take on it and what I enjoy so much about it, the fact that anyone can do it and it’s what you make of it. 

“To me the lines of creativity are blurred, you step on the pitch, you’re creating passes. You see Keira [Walsh] picking out a pass, that’s a creation in itself and that lives on as hers. 

“We share it with other people, the same way we share in art museums or, like myself, sharing my art on Instagram for everyone to see. I would like to remove barriers to art and creativity as much as possible. 

“It’s the same with football, take all the red tape away and enjoy the games. The games are free to watch in England, people can wake up early and catch a cracking game of football."

You can see hear more from Wubben-Moy in the full episode above and don’t miss Lionesses: Down Under connected by EE on our Youtube channel and at EnglandFootball.com each day.