Playmakers project: UEFA visit to San Marino

UEFA Playmakers has now proven to be a highly effective project in San Marino as well, where since 2021 – the year it was launched – many young girls have experienced the joy of playing together in a healthy, safe and non-competitive environment, with the football acting as a common thread (but without stealing the limelight) and the most beautiful Disney stories driving the activities. During the numerous sessions organised in the two usual yearly cycles – one in spring and one in autumn – feedback from the young participants and their parents has become increasingly positive and encouraging, strengthening the football sector that Playmakers naturally connects with – the girls’ grassroots game – and multiplying the energy and enthusiasm of those who bring this project to life from within, namely the staff to whom the FSGC has entrusted the running of this activity. Still, even when results are good, there is no room for complacency. This is why UEFA organises regular visits to the member associations that have joined the Playmakers project, with the aim of assessing the current situation and, above all, providing new perspectives and advice with a view to future improvements. That is exactly what happened in San Marino over the past two days. Rosalie Borg, Coach and Educator at UEFA, was taken on a tour of the FSGC’s main facilities (such as the Casa del Calcio and San Marino Stadium) and, in particular, the Acquaviva Gym, where yesterday marked the conclusion of the 2026 Playmakers autumn block, themed around the animated film Inside Out 2. Borg was able to see the seven educators in action and, above all, the twenty-five girls who lit up the indoor session, before they said their (temporary) goodbyes to the staff during a small farewell party also attended by their parents. A gift was presented to Rosalie Borg: an official San Marino Women’s National Team shirt. The moment was particularly moving for the UEFA representative, not so much because of the gift itself, but for the tenderness and enthusiasm shown by the girls when it was handed over. Earlier in the day, at the Casa del Calcio, staff members from various FSGC departments outlined to Rosalie Borg the structure of the San Marino Football Federation, its grassroots projects, its marketing and communications strategies specifically linked to Playmakers, and in general the entire set-up put in place over five years ago to ensure that this project – and, more broadly, initiatives related to girls’ grassroots football – would bear the hoped-for fruit. The UEFA visit – coordinated and led at every stage by Jessica Guidi, Project Manager of UEFA Playmakers San Marino – concluded this morning, again at FSGC headquarters. The final part of the meeting was dedicated to presenting some statistics on the impact of UEFA Playmakers in San Marino, to the opportunities to be seized in light of the structural challenges of the Republic of the Titan and, last but not least, to the practical advice provided by Rosalie Borg to the San Marino staff in view of the project’s short- and long-term future. After all, UEFA Playmakers is only five years old and still has many more stories to tell.