A team of young girl footballers has launched a campaign defending their right to have short hair – after some were accused of being boys during a game.
The girls of York Railway Institute (YRI) AFC u12s have mounted the ‘Girls can have short hair. Get Over It’ campaign after a series of complaints from parents and coaches of rival teams.
In one recent incident a game was actually stopped because the rival team wanted to ensure that all the players were actually girls – leaving some of the York players upset..
YRI AFC players Camille Porhel and Flo Topham, both 11, have short hair cuts and say that going to matches now made them anxious.
Flo said: “I feel quite angry and sad when people think I am a boy, and I feel anxious about going to matches or tournaments.
“Yes it does upset me definitely because they are commenting on how I look, and I am a girl and I am just being me.”
Camille, who started playing the sport when she was five, added that she can’t believe people are still making the remarks in the 21 century.
She said: “I get very annoyed because nobody can focus on what they are doing on the pitch but instead have to listen to the comments and it just makes the experience so unpleasant.
“It’s the 21st century and people are still making remarks on girls’ short hair.
“It makes me wonder what kind of society our future will be like for young footballers my age.”
The youngsters have now started a campaign to support young girls with short hair and wear t-shirts that say ‘Girls can have short hair, get over it’ when they are warming up before matches.
They hope the campaign will help other girls “not feel alone” and will encourage other parents and coaches to not say “unkind things.”
Camille said: “I think it will help because it shows that you are not alone when people are being ignorant and you have support no matter how secluded you feel.”
Flo said: “Yes I do think it will help other girls because we are trying to spread our word, and let them know they are not alone – also that words can really hurt.
“It’s especially bad when it’s other parents or coaches saying unkind things.”
Camille’s mum Aimée Little, 50, says that both girls are still playing football which is “very courageous” but feel like they are more anxious before playing a match.
She said: “Both girls are just girls who want to play football and have short hair – they find it really bizarre that there would even be any fuss about it.
“To think that we are still talking about this in 2025, is pretty crazy.
“In the past, it was really accepting that women and girls would have short hair.
“It’s like if you are a good footballer and you’ve got short hair, then you must be a boy – and that is really bizarre.
“They are playing, which is very courageous of them, but they are more anxious around playing football because of the abuse that they get from other parents and other coaches.”
Aimée, of York, North Yorks., says they’ve had an incredible amount of responses from their campaign, from other people who have experienced the same thing.
She said: “The amount of responses we’ve had from our social media campaign is actually quite sad.
“It’s everywhere in grassroots football – we aren’t the only team to be experiencing this.
“So many people have said their daughter has experienced it or that they’ve experienced it, so I think we’ve touched on something much bigger.
“People don’t even realise that this level of discrimination exists in girl’s sport.”
