Building the Future of Women's Football: Lessons from Denmark and America

In Veo’s Copenhagen headquarters, four leaders in women’s football sat down to discuss how to grow, develop, and sustain women's football. The conversation between American and Danish leaders revealed differences in approach, but a shared vision for the future of the women's game.

The panel brought together Trish Hughes, Commissioner of the Girls Academy in the US; Megan Frey, the league's Technical Director; Rebecca Steele, Head of Women's Football at FC Copenhagen; and Marie Greve, CEO of Kvindedivisionsforeningen (Denmark's Women's League).

The American Model: Girls-Only Excellence

The Girls Academy represents a bold experiment in American youth football. With 122 clubs and 16,000 players across ages U13 to U19, it stands as the country's premier girls-only football platform. But for Commissioner Trish Hughes, the numbers tell only part of the story.

"We're not just about the 20% of elite players," Hughes emphasized. "We want to make sure we're serving the other 80% so they have an experience that will carry them forward for life, whether it's life skills, being part of a community, or becoming lifelong fans of the game."

This holistic approach reflects a deeper understanding of female athlete development. The Girls Academy has made female coaching representation mandatory for membership, recognizing that seeing women in leadership roles creates pathways for young players to envision their own futures in the sport.

The American collegiate system provides a unique advantage, offering educational pathways that have traditionally fed the national team pipeline. However, this is evolving as players increasingly bypass college for professional opportunities in the NWSL, USL, or European leagues.

The Danish Revolution: Challenging traditional structures

In Denmark, the challenge is different but equally complex. As Marie Greve noted, "We are 80 years behind in a man-dominated football culture." The response has been systematic restructuring and bold innovation.

FC Copenhagen's women's team exemplifies this new thinking. Starting with a literal blank piece of paper two and a half years ago, Rebecca Steele has built something unprecedented: a women's team with its own identity, brand, and revolutionary training methods.

"One of the main things we've done very differently is having girls training and playing with the boys," Steele explained. "We look at them as children or young people, and we match them with the boys." This mixed-gender approach, inspired by successful Dutch models, challenges football's traditional structures while optimizing development for both male and female players.

The results speak volumes. FC Copenhagen's first women's game drew 5,000 spectators when the previous record was around 2,000. For their upcoming match at Parken Stadium, over 16,000 people have already signed up.

The Science of Female Development

Perhaps the most crucial insight from the panel was the recognition that developing female athletes requires specialized knowledge and approaches. Megan Frey emphasized the importance of "female athlete health" and understanding how science applies differently to women's training, games, and periodization.

Trish Hughes elaborated on the psychological aspects: "We know that the psyche of a 13-year-old versus that of an 18-year-old is very different. We look not just at gender differences, but where they fall developmentally on that timeline of adolescent growth."

This understanding has led to communication strategies that build trust and foundational relationships. Rather than solely focusing on winning, the emphasis is on creating environments where young women can thrive both as athletes and as individuals.

The Danish context adds another layer of complexity. With fewer girls playing overall, every dropout is more significant. As Greve pointed out, "We can't afford to lose them in our system because we are a small country. All the talent, all the girls who want to play, we have to keep them within the system."

Technology as an Equalizer

Technology emerged as a crucial tool for development, but with important nuances for female athletes. Both Danish and American leaders noted that young women particularly embrace technology that allows self-assessment and collaborative analysis with coaches.

"We've moved from this top-down 'coach decides everything' and engaged with the players much more," Steele observed. "For the girls and women, it is profitable for them to grow in the games."

Technology, such as Veo cameras, provides unprecedented access to role models. As global women's football becomes more visible through streaming platforms, young players can see themselves represented at the highest levels of the sport.

The Coaching Challenge

The panel revealed a critical shortage of female coaches across both systems. In Denmark, the women's league has just one female head coach, with two others leaving for Canada, where they could better balance family and coaching responsibilities.

The Girls Academy has responded by requiring female coaching representation for membership and investing in leadership development programs that go beyond tactical knowledge. "It's less about X's and O's and more about leadership, culture, and communication strategies," Hughes explained.

The goal is to create coaches who can "walk into the room as leaders and not just as football people," addressing data showing that female coaches face more leadership challenges than their male counterparts.

Building Communities, Not Just Teams

Perhaps the most innovative aspect of the modern women's football movement is its focus on community building. FC Copenhagen has partnered with female-founded brands to create what Steele calls "a cultural movement."

"When you walk the streets of Copenhagen, you can see young girls wearing the FC Copenhagen women's jersey as a statement," she noted. "We have to create more than football – we have to create this movement, this cultural movement."

This approach recognizes that women's football can't simply replicate men's football marketing and expect success. It requires understanding different audiences and creating authentic connections with communities that value the sport's broader cultural significance.

A Watershed Moment

The panel concluded with Trish Hughes expressing a hope that in five years, "we won't be talking about how to make the women's game better and how to go for equality. It's time to move forward."

This sentiment captures the current moment in women's football - a sport moving from proving its worth to claiming its rightful place in the sporting landscape. The innovations happening in Copenhagen and across America aren't just about developing better players, but about reimagining what football can be when viewed differently.

As young girls wearing FC Copenhagen jerseys walk the streets of the Danish capital, and American teenagers see pathways from youth football to professional careers, the future of women's football is being written not in boardrooms, but in the communities and cultures these leaders are building one player, one coach, and one fan at a time.

Learn more about the FC Copenhagen Women team in our article: “We knew from the start that everything we did was historic”.

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