Officials of the World governing football body, FIFA, have recently underlined the importance of women’s football and have initiated several programmes to enhance the fortunes of these lasses.
Lawrence Griffith
Local football administrators are determined to fulfil this mandate and following close on the heels of the just concluded women’s tournament under the auspices of the Slingerz FC and the National Association of Women’s Football, local football administrators will convene next Sunday, September 15, to launch a female football club at the African Cultural Development Association (ACDA) building, Thomas Road, Thomas Lands commencing at 15:00 hrs.
The idea for the club was conceptualized by coordinator of the annual Scotiabank/Pepsi School Football Academy, Lawrence Griffith, upon completion of that tournament. Griffith also said that following the embarrassing losses suffered by the national female U-17 squad at the just concluded Caribbean Football Union (CFU) championship, he realized that the lasses needed to enhance their performance as they were lacking in sound tactical and technical skills. He decided that with the formation of the club the girls would benefit from tutoring by qualified and competent coaches.
Members will comprise of mostly females under the age of 23 years but administrators have also indicated that older players interested in playing the sport will not be turned away.
Apart from the FIFA mandate, Mr Griffith said that he was a mite perturbed by the smattering of female clubs locally. He said that current efforts to have more female clubs installed will foster the necessary development thus promoting the sport in the distaff fraternity. He feels that an increase in the number of clubs will also witness an increase in female tournaments.
Griffith said that administrators are toying with several names for the club and a final decision will be taken at the meeting. The membership will also elect office bearers at the meeting while addressing several other important matters. The organizers have also indicated an intention to approach officials of the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports to utilise their grounds for training purposes.