Young Player of the Season Maya Le Tissier has joined Common Goal and pledged 1% of her salary to advance gender equality through football.
The 20-year-old defender has been making a name for herself by breaking barriers across the game.
In 2018, she became the first female to play for Guernsey under-16 boys’ team, the same year she made her England under-17 debut as captain. Climbing the ranks quickly, she got her first cap for England’s under-23 team last year at 19.
Maya has made more than 50 WSL appearances for Albion and was an ever present in the team which finished seventh last season.
She spoke to Common Goal about her pledge.
How does it feel knowing that as well as talking about change you’re driving it through your 1% pledge?
It’s always something I’ve wanted to do but I didn’t know how, so when I saw Common Goal, I thought ‘perfect, I can be a part of something with a lot of other players’. We can come together and create something bigger than as individuals to make more of an impact. It’s hard to do something on your own.
Delighted to join the @CommonGoalOrg family. Excited to be a part of the change. 🙌🏻
— Maya Le Tissier (@MayaLeTissier) May 27, 2022
“The older players have left women’s football in a great place and I just want to be part of the next generation that leaves it in an even better place.” https://t.co/Vh6hScgge9
Where’s your 1% going and why?
It’s going to the Global Goal 5 Accelerator project — to make it easier for girls to participate and create pathways for them. I’m not saying it’s not good to have challenges but if you can make it easier, especially in less developed countries, then that’s what we want to do. And that’s what’s going to raise the standard of women’s football.
I was watching the Brighton under-12s recently and I wasn’t like that when I was younger! Women’s football is definitely on the rise and I just want to be a part of that.
Why did you want to start giving back at such an early stage of your career?
Because the game is already giving me so much. I’m living in a different country just to play football. So from an early age, I want to give back to the game and hopefully do it for the rest of my career. You never know what’s going to happen in football so I don’t want to wait until I’m 25 and then start giving back. I might as well start now to help the next generation coming through.
What would you say to other players who are thinking of joining Common Goal?
Definitely do it. I was speaking to [Albion team-mate] Danielle Carter and a couple of the other players that have joined and there’s never been anything like ‘you shouldn’t do it, there’s no point.’ It’s such a good thing to do. Being a part of it, not just seeing others join, makes you feel good about helping others.