Port Vale women’s midfielder Lia Perl Masibay recently won £1,000 for her team in a football freestyle competition held by Babybel.
Babybel, the UK’s number one cheese snack, launched a football freestyle competition which offered the opportunity for the public to win one of five £1,000 donations to a grassroots sports team of their choice.
To enter the competition, which was set up as part of Babybel’s #ForAllFans campaign, you had to submit either a photo or video showcasing a ‘Snackable Skill’ and our very own Lia Perl Masibay took part and claimed the cash prize after displaying her football freestyle skills.
Masibay was in Manchester’s Media City on a bike ride when she came across a sign advertising the competition, and decided to put her freestyle skills, which she has worked on for years, to the test.
After showcasing her skills and submitting her entry online she emerged victorious, winning £1,000 to be put towards a team of her choice and she decided to invest the money into the Port Vale Foundation with the money being used to increase support of the Women’s team of whom Masibay is now in her third season with.
She said: “At university I studied sports rehabilitation and was in my third year, and was feeling stressed due to my exams so decided to go on a bike ride and saw the sign advertising a freestyle competition.
“So I showed my freestyle skills that I’ve been working on since I was young, I started out learning how to do a rainbow flick when I was 10 and progressed from there.
“For my submission I did rainbow flicks, as well as doing press-ups with the ball balanced on my back, edited my video and made sure to tag Babybel and #ForAllFans.
“The reason why I chose the Port Vale Women was because I have been with them for three seasons now and I have always been close to the club, they have helped me so much.
“I wanted to give something back to my club and I thought the £1,000 could be put towards getting us more equipment and funding the different age groups of girls football at the club.
“I spoke to Carol [Shanahan] and she said thanked me for choosing the Port Vale Foundation and told me the money would be distributed to the women’s football side of the club.”
Masibay emphasized how she feels her success is a prime example of why it’s important to get outside and seek opportunities and always work hard to achieve something that allows you to give back to those around you.
On a day where she was feeling stressed and unhappy due to her ongoing examinations, she decided to use exercise and fresh air as a way of making herself feel better and ended up discovering a great opportunity.
This idea of keeping positive and striving to achieve a goal no matter what size each day is something Masibay is passionate about and hopes that along with winning extra funding for women’s football at Port Vale, her actions may inspire people to enjoy each day.
She said: “The whole idea of this competition is about seizing every opportunity, so the day that I was feeling down I decided to do something about it.
“I went outside, and I ended up winning £1,000 for the club because I saw an opportunity and went for it.
“I think it’s important to always think that if you want to do something with your life, then go for it, don’t wait around, just do it now and make sure you enjoy each day and good things will come out of it."