“Close the confidence gap”: how Adobe is transforming women’s football with creative empowerment

As part of its ongoing support for women's football, Adobe has partnered with grassroots charity Bloomsbury Football Foundation to launch Kick & Create – a girls-only club combining football coaching with creative workshops. Blending the beautiful game with transferable creative skills, this partnership marks a new opportunity to empower young women both on and off the pitch.

Providing essential tools for graphic designers for decades, Adobe's latest project is yet another step towards closing the creativity gap, equipping young creatives with skills for life. To get a better understanding of the new initiative, I sat down with Simon Morris, VP of international marketing at Adobe, to discuss the value of creative empowerment and what's next for the leading creative software company.

At the centre of the new partnership is Kick & Create, which Simon describes as "a hybrid approach." He explains, "We combine physical play with the excitement of digital content creation to showcase the possibilities for girls that exist in the beautiful game."

The initiative was born out of Adobe research, which revealed that girls were 64% more likely to engage with football camps when creative elements were involved. "They're going to use Adobe Express so they can create anything from Panini-style playing cards, brand visualisations of their dream football stadium, matchday posters, or even a completely new brand for their team: from kit, to the logo and typeface," Simon says.

When asked about the inspiration behind the Kick & Create initiative Simon tells me, "The research that we conducted really is our North Star," adding "it's about turning the sport into more of a kind of creative narrative." He continues, "There are so many incredible untold stories, particularly in the women's game, whether that be across the clubs or the fans or the players. The more we can help give them the tools to share those stories, the more that will help elevate the game. If you think about some of the most iconic players of all time, whether it be Ronaldo or Beth Mead or Alessia Russo, they're really starting to grow their personal brands through content and creativity."

Following on from Adobe's previous competition inviting young creatives design the official Adobe Mascot for the Adobe Women’s FA Cup Final, a new competition has been launched. Adobe Fan Made invites the public to submit patterns created using Adobe Express, with the winning entry set to feature on the kit unveiled at the Final and worn by the Mascot and Bloomsbury Football Foundation player escorts.

"As part of that competition, for every design that is submitted, Adobe is going to be donating £10 to Bloomsbury Football Foundation, which will fund additional camp places and make the program even more accessible to more young girls," Simon explains.

"When it comes to picking the winner, ultimately, we're going to be looking for authenticity and a really great storytelling. It won't necessarily be the most creative; it will be someone who really captures the spirit of the game in their pattern design. We want a design that feels like it belongs in the heritage of the sport, whilst looking forward to its future."

What's next for Adobe? "It continues to be around empowering everyone to create," Simon tells me. "We want to see the clubs, the fans, and the players across the women's game using tools like Adobe Express to tell their stories and create standout content."

"I'd love to see this design-led sports culture right across the game. The more that we can empower clubs to create standout content and showcase the stories that exist within their clubs or their players, the more it will inspire women into sport – we really want to normalise the idea that every athlete is also a creator. If we can help close that confidence gap because every girl feels like they have the tools to share their story with the world, that'll be a real success story for us," Simon concludes.

Find out more about Kick & Create.