There’s something very powerful about being a parent. The power we have to either make or break a child’s potential is actually quite scary when you give it any amount of thinking time. The thought that what I do will impact Ted and carry such influence on whether Ted reaches his dreams or not.

I want to inspire Ted to do whatever he dreams of. If he walks in one day and says, “Daddy, I want to fly to the moon.” I’m gonna encourage it fully and do what I can so he doesn’t ever give up on that dream. Plus, I’d like a free ticket…

When I saw the video about Flo Allen and her dad, it struck a cord with me and resonated. Playing women’s football for England and representing their under 17s in the World Cup is no small feat and she was inspired by her dad.

Although the profile of women’s football is on the rise, it’s still overshadowed by its counterpart, which in turn makes it trickier for women to get involved in. This to me highlights the strength of Flo’s father’s inspiration. By nurturing and encouraging her dreams, they made it happen together.

That should give all dads confidence to know that by sewing a small seed of inspiration could lead to some amazing journeys for our kids.

It’s great to see organisations like SSE (one of the UK’s leading energy companies, supplying energy to around 8.21 million customers throughout Great Britain and Ireland) supporting thousands of girls nationwide to get into women’s football. The FA SSE Girls Football Participation Programme is now providing crucial funding to local clubs to start girls coaching that now impact 60 clubs across the UK.

What’s also truly amazing about this father & daughter relationship is that there’s hundreds of miles between them and yet their relationship is as good as ever before. It seems that at the same time as inspiring your children, you also develop and nurture an incredibly close relationship; something that all dads would want.

Watching and hearing about stories like Flo and her dad, is an inspiration to me as a dad. I’m not sure yet what Ted’s dreams are, but until then, I’m going to try my hardest to expose him to as many wonderful things this world has to offer. The more he experiences, the broader his pool of dreams is to choose from. That’s why I make him watch as much football as I do and documentaries on moon landings… That’s what I’m telling the wife anyway :)

To find out more about the work SSE are doing in women’s football visit: www.sse.co.uk/about-us/sponsorship/sport/womens-football.