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Women in Football's ground-breaking #WhatIf campaign launched in May 2018 aiming to change the football landscape by helping create new opportunities for girls and women.

In the latest of a special mini-series we take a look at another key pledge made since that official launch at Twitter's London HQ and find out what has happened since.

#WhatIf UCFB gave a scholarship to develop female leaders in the game?

For many, the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns have seen education, career dreams, relationships and so much else put on hold over the past 12 months. 

But Samira Conteh, however, has refused to let anything stop her and thanks to UCFB's Women in the Game scholarship, her career is positively thriving.

It's true to say that Samira is making the most of a hugely challenging time, making the most of whatever opportunities she has. Indeed, making opportunities for herself too. 

“I started the UCFB course in September 2020 and was over the moon to be the recipient of the Women in Football’s scholarship, although it was possibly the worst time to begin a new course!”, she explains.

"Normally I would have met the other students, got to know them better, and socialised with them, but because of the current situation pretty much everything has had to be done online.”

"One of the highlights has been joining WIF's Leadership Courses levels 1 and 2, which I was invited to as part of the scholarship. I didn't know what to expect as I'd never really been on anything like it before."

And for Samira, who is more used to being surrounded by giant American footballers playing as a wide receiver for The Kent Falcons, meeting other women on the online course proved just as nerve-wracking!

"I started playing while I was at the University of Kent," she explained, "and I love the camaraderie and friendships that have come out of it and can't wait to get back playing again.

"On my first day of the Leadership Course, I was surrounded by such well-established women who between them covered so many roles in the football industry, it was a bit daunting to be honest.

"I'm a student with nowhere near as much experience and still learning more about myself. Being able to sit and listen, and absorb so much good advice and hear their stories was really useful for me.

"It also helped me to realise that I do have leadership skills myself. I really didn't think that I did before because I've not had a big job or a role in football. The course showed me that I have gained lots of different experiences from things that I have done previously.

"I may be in my 20s, but during my time at the University of Kent, I was Game day manager in charge of the American Football team organising fixtures, taking care of the admin side of things like liaising with refs, opposing teams, unions, organising travel...everything to do with putting on a fixture.

"The Leadership Course encouraged me not to undervalue the skills that I have just because I am still early in my journey."

Even so, apart from being a recipient of the Women in Football scholarship, Samira has been busy producing a new podcast, Black Broke and Brilliant, which is going from strength to strength.

"I started this in May last year with my friend Ivy and we have already been featured by Buzzfeed as one of the top 14 Black British podcasts to listen to" she adds.

"It is great to be able to explore more skills, not just recording episodes but planning, editing it, and managing the social media account. There are so many podcasts out there in different formats, but we like to think ours is unique in its own way.

"We're out every Thursday, so why not have a listen?!"

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