Republic of Ireland manager Vera Pauw is hopeful that the visibility and legacy of UEFA Women's Euro 2022 will have a positive knock-on boost for the Women's National League.
In a first for Irish primetime television, all 31 games of the upcoming championships, which kick off on Wednesday 6 July, will be broadcast live on RTÉ television and the RTÉ Player.
It comes at a time when Pauw's Irish side have made steady progress and are in pole position for a 2023 FIFA World Cup play-off place after Monday's 9-0 win in Georgia and with pivotal games against Finland and Slovakia to come in September.
Speaking at the launch of RTÉ's comprehensive coverage of the tournament, Pauw, who will be among the pundits during the tournament, highlighted the possibilities afforded by the prominence of Euro 2022 over the next month and is keen to see the benefits filter down to Irish domestic competitions.
"This tournament will show that when you offer the opportunity to create the circumstances in which players and teams can develop then you will get top athletes and top performances," she said.
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"I think it's more the women waking up the world than anything else. If you look at Ireland, it's only five years ago that the brave women of our team stood up and said, 'No longer in this way, we have the right to development'.
"That action turned into an attitude from our association that we're not working behind the others but we're taking a lead.
"If you look at equal payment, the Dutch FA only now announced that they are going to give equal payment to the players only from this tournament onwards, and their plan was next year."
Last year, the FAI announced that the men's and women's senior international teams will now receive the same match fees while on international duty and Pauw believes that has helped set a template for others.
"And that example has shown the way to the Dutch FA for example and others will follow and that means it's more than just performance. It is the right to development, it is the right to equal opportunities," said the former Netherlands international and manager.
"It's not for anyone else to tell a girl that she cannot have equal opportunities because it's football. It's not up to anyone else to tell a girl if she was to go to another sport you will get better facilities.
"It is up to the associations to create gender equality and the brave women in Ireland who stood up in a time when nobody else stood up... I think that is something we can be proud of.
"Our players are giving everything to show Ireland and Irish girls, if you have a dream and you go for it, then you get something.
"And if you're not treated equally, you have to stand up for yourself and I think that message is so much more powerful than the tournament. The tournament will just reinforce that and I think the outcome of this tournament, the fact that (RTÉ) will broadcast every single game will show the sports people in Ireland that our Women's National League needs more support, needs more money to grow together with all the facilities that have been created by others and that in itself will be a massive improvement."
On the tournament itself which was delayed by a year due to Covid-19 and comes five years after the 2017 Euros, Pauw believes tactical developments and trends in the game will be visible to see.
"There is a much higher intensity of the game," she explained.
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"That is why teamwork will be the key factor. The defensives will be more compact than the last tournament and in attack there will be much more variety because you can see that over the last two years.
"The teams are controlling the game at a much higher level and the defensive blocks need to be broken down by variable and creative play at the highest intensity throughout the game.
"Possession of play has been improved, the awareness at a team level has improved immensely over the past few years - teamwork will be key - it will be less reliable on the individual and more on the team working together."
RTÉ will broadcast all 31 games at UEFA Women's Euro 2022 from 6 July - with 27 matches live and exclusive on RTÉ2, with 4 simultaneous group games on the RTÉ News Channel and the RTÉ Player.
Pundits will include Vera Pauw, Stephanie Roche, Louise Quinn, Niamh Fahey, Lisa Fallon, Megan Campbell, Richie Sadlier and Kevin Doyle.
