Steph Houghton Quotes

We're doing a lot of work in schools getting girls to play football, breaking down any taboos there might be, and we're seeing them get interested and bring their families along, where they have such a good match day experience that they're coming back.

My role models were Kevin Phillips and David Beckham, and, for me, now girls can look up to female footballers and want to aspire to be them and try to follow in their footsteps and even be better than us.

I think people admire us for dedicating our lives to be professional athletes. But we need more people to come and watch club games; we need to encourage girls to play football from an early age.

A lot of young women play soccer, and it's wonderful to give them something to aspire to.

It's always in our mind-set to encourage young girls to get playing. The only way we can do that is being positive off the pitch, trying to engage as much as possible.

The image of women's football has definitely changed. Now we've got to make sure it keeps developing.

Female goalkeepers are seen as equals in academies now. We're trying to set a good example for the younger boys so they're used to seeing us women around, making great saves and scoring great goals.

It can be very challenging to be what you can't see. Think about it in the physical world. You walk into a room, and no one looks like you. Can you relate to them? Do you feel welcome? Let's stop talking about how men dominate the technology industry and instead focus on the women who are killing it.

It would be great to see more Asian women playing cricket at every level.

I think Together #WePlayStrong is a big step for football. This project is about building interest and professionalism and making younger women want to play football at a high level.

As we women know, there are so many other hurdles that we have to cross that I would love it if we could stop having the race conversation so that we can get women further on. You know, a female president now that we have an African American president. Maybe we can get an Asian female, a gay person?

I think what really matters is the support you get in football regardless of the uniform you wear. Some girls feel good playing in long shorts, while some of them feel good playing in tighter shorts. I'm not against it. It's obvious that women have to explore that female side of things, and I don't think that's a mistake.

The roots of Silicon Valley are full of stories of immigrants and minority groups who experienced bigotry and made it anyway. Why should women be any different?

We have to start encouraging women to get into math and science early on in life... But to just say TechCrunch is perpetuating the problem because there aren't enough women speakers at our events is just a way to get attention and not solve the problem. So do we want to solve the problem, or do we want to just pick on me?

The Women's Sports Foundation holds a unique position in developing opportunities for girls and women of all abilities to be active whether recreationally or competitively, and I'm excited to help lead the organization to impact even more lives. It is an honor to continue to build the legacy created by Billie Jean King and all of our leaders.

I'm so happy that we're finally hearing the stories and voices of women who make America. We do what we see, not what we're told, so an incomplete story of this country damages everyone.

You need mentors, people with that desire to support women and the vision to have more. We have that in Anglo American in a big way.

We live in a world where sports have the potential to bridge the gap between racism, sexism and discrimination. The 2012 Olympic Games was a great start but hopefully what these games taught us is that if women are given an opportunity on an equal playing field the possibilities for women are endless.

A bird cannot fly with one wing only. Human space flight cannot develop any further without the active participation of women.

If this world is going to be a better place for our grandchildren and great-grandchildren, it will be women who make it so.

Last year, I was very shocked when I went to a debate on Women's Day. They had a survey, and they were asking these girls how many women inventors we have, how many women scientists do we have. And you'd be shocked that hardly anyone knew that Ada Lovelace was there behind computer science, that Marie Curie still remains iconic with two Nobel prizes. So there's a lot of homework to do to actually make -- to remove all these gender biases at a very young age; instill that confidence in that girl; to tell her that she can do as well if not better than her brother.

It's not often that a strong female role comes across one's desk, unfortunately, but it's getting better.

My goal is that a girl will watch 'The Martian' or 'Interstellar' and think, 'I want to be an astronaut or a quantum physicist.' It's important to show powerful women who are good at their jobs because young girls need those examples.

I'm just glad that there's some diversity in the music industry with women so people know that you can be literally anything and still be able to make it.

It's so important for young girls of color - young girls of any color - to see diverse women as the heroes of their own story.