Girls Football Festival came to Montenegro for the first time
After several years in Vienna and its first edition in Sarajevo in 2025, the festival continued its regional journey in the mountains of northern Montenegro, bringing together girls from six clubs and organisations for three days of football, learning, outdoor activities and new friendships.
Taking part in this year’s festival were AF City from Podgorica, JU Dječji dom “Mladost” Bijela, ŽFK Ekonomist from Nikšić, ŽFK MKM from Podgorica, ŽFS Meraki from Niš, ŽFK Borac Bijelo Polje and ŽNK Troglav from Livno.
But the Girls Football Festival is deliberately about much more than bringing teams together for a tournament.
Creating more space for girls in football
The Girls Football Festival also responds to a very practical reality: girls across the region still have fewer opportunities to enter football, find a team and remain involved in the game.
Football Zajedno’s work with clubs and communities has repeatedly shown that access to girls’ teams and inclusive, regular programmes remains limited in many places. The challenge can be even greater for girls facing additional social or economic barriers.
Events such as the Girls Football Festival cannot solve those challenges on their own. What they can do is give girls the chance to meet others who share their interest in football, strengthen their confidence, experience a different kind of sporting environment and see that there is a much wider community of girls and women within the game.
This has been at the heart of the festival since its development within Football Zajedno. Previous editions have combined football training, educational workshops and shared experiences to promote gender equality, team spirit, leadership and social inclusion.
After three days in Žabljak, perhaps the clearest result was not found on a scoreboard.
It could be seen in mixed teams celebrating one another’s goals, in conversations between girls who had arrived from different countries, and in the new friendships that continued long after the final whistle.
Three days to meet, learn and play together
The festival began on Friday with the arrival of the teams and an opening programme at Black Lake in Durmitor National Park.
The first afternoon was dedicated to getting to know one another. Through games, informal activities and time spent together in nature, the participants had an opportunity to meet girls from other clubs and countries before the football programme began in earnest.
That first contact is an important part of the festival concept. Instead of remaining within the groups they arrived with, the girls are gradually encouraged to move beyond familiar club structures and experience the weekend as one larger group.
On Saturday, that idea moved onto the football pitch.
Participants were divided into mixed teams, met their new coaches and rotated through a combination of football and educational stations. Alongside training, the girls took part in workshops and activities addressing topics such as equality, non-discrimination, human rights, mental health, self-confidence, teamwork and mutual respect.
The afternoon continued with educational and recreational games in nature, creating more space for conversations, cooperation and simply having fun together.
For many participants, it is during this second day that the dynamic of the festival really changes: unfamiliar faces become teammates, girls from different clubs begin supporting one another, and relationships start to form beyond the football pitch.
A tournament where the result was not the point
The final day brought everyone back to the pitch for a friendly tournament played in the same mixed teams.
There were matches, goals and plenty of support from the sidelines, but there was no pressure to determine which participating club was “the best”. The teams themselves no longer represented individual clubs.
Girls who had arrived in Žabljak from different cities and countries only two days earlier were now playing together, coached by people they had only recently met and supporting new teammates.
This approach reflects the wider purpose of the Girls Football Festival: creating an environment where football can help young people cross social, club and national boundaries and experience cooperation directly rather than only talking about it.
The weekend ended at Vražje Lake, where all participants received medals and certificates and the group came together for one final moment before travelling home.
Football Zajedno in Montenegro
The festival forms part of Football Zajedno, a regional football and social inclusion initiative developed by VIDC/fairplay and implemented in close partnership with Igrajmo zajedno inicijativa - IZI.
The cooperation dates back to the launch of Football Zajedno in 2017 and combines VIDC/fairplay’s long-standing expertise in anti-discrimination, human rights education and social inclusion through sport with locally rooted implementation and an established network of clubs, coaches and community partners in the region.
Montenegro has been an important part of that network for years. The long-standing cooperation with the Football Association of Montenegro includes the joint coordination of Football Zajedno activities, work with clubs and local organisations, fairplay workshops, Mini Van Tour activities and support for locally driven initiatives that use sport to promote inclusion, intercultural dialogue and equality.
Bringing the Girls Football Festival to Žabljak for the first time therefore represents more than simply adding a new host location. It builds on years of cooperation and reflects the Football Association of Montenegro’s wider commitment to the social dimension of football, including equal opportunities, inclusion and creating positive environments for children and young people.
The Girls Football Festival was organised within the framework of the Football Zajedno project, coordinated by the fairplay initiative at VIDC, with Igrajmo zajedno inicijativa - IZI as the main implementing partner, in cooperation with the Football Association of Montenegro. The project is funded by the UEFA HatTrick programme.
