The Swedish women’s football team have found a unique way to inspire the cause of women’s empowerment. In a new campaign launched on Thursday, the team has decided to drop the names of individual players on the back of jerseys and replace them with motivational tweets.
Sweden, who finished second at the Rio Olympics last year, released their jerseys earlier this week as they prepared to take part in the Algarve Cup. The players were asked to pick inspiring tweets from Sweden’s women personalities from various fields, which would be printed on the back of the jersey, where their names would normally appear. The initiative was launched by the Swedish Football Association to inspire young women to believe in themselves and built the belief that they can achieve anything they want to.
The Swedish captain, Lotta Schelin, picked the line, “never look down on someone unless it is to help her up”. Elaborating on the campaign, she told The Guardian. “The national team shirt is an important symbol and it constantly reminds us that we can win whatever game it is in whatever competitions. I think it is great that we can join forces with other strong women and that we together can show that everything is possible. There is always a need to show young women that it is possible to succeed and that no one should feel limited in what they can achieve and particularly not because of their sex.”
Other messages that have been printed are by artist Zara Larsson (“Believe in your damn self”), journalist Frida Soderlund (“To try is to be successful. The result is secondary as long as you dare”) and the stand-up comedian Karin Adelskold (“Women want different things”).