Expansion of women’s participation is a priority for the GFF

Sep 21, 2020 Sports

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…FIFA and Concacaf offering more for development programmes

By Franklin Wilson
The rise of Guyana’s female football team, aka ‘Lady Jags’ over the past few years has been very encouraging to one and all especially young players. The Under-17 and 20 teams have been doing the nation proud at respective Concacaf championships and based on these developments, the female game is headed in the right direction.
The recent announcement by the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) that it would be investing 20M dollars (as a start) to develop female facilities at Ann’s Grove on the East Coast of Demerara and Vryman’s Erven, New Amsterdam is even more encouraging news for females and families by extension.
Our women have been doing us proud dating back to the CONCACAF Women’s World Cup qualifying tournament in Cancun, Mexico in 2010 when Guyana played the likes of Canada, Mexico and Trinidad and Tobago; however, consistent investment on and off the field of play is required to reap steady positive results.
Then {2010}, the majority of the team was made up of overseas based players but fast forward a decade, there are more local based players who are involved and this is a deliberate move the GFF based on its development programme put in place by Technical Director Ian Greenwood under the Presidency of Wayne Forde.
Guyana earned its right to the knockout stages of the 2020 Concacaf Women’s Under-17 Championship (Covid-19 postponing its continuation) after putting away its opponents in Group D play which was held in Curacao last August.

The Guyanese ladies had a perfect record of 3wins – 0draws – 0losses; scoring 11goals whilst conceding 4. Victories were recorded over the Bahamas, Curacao and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines at the Stadion Ergilio Hato in Willemstad, Curacao.
Local based player Jalade Trim ended as the group’s joint top goal scorer (3 goals) in a three-way tie. Contesting the Concacaf Women’s Under-20 Championship, the ‘Lady Jags’ defeated Suriname 3-1, Saint Lucia, Antigua & Barbuda and Bermuda by respective 2-0 margins to win Group A Qualifying at the Leonora Track and Field Facility last July on debut at this competition.
Moving on to the Group stage in the Dominican Republic in February this year, Guyana defeated Nicaragua 3-1, Puerto Rico 2-1 and Cayman Islands 2-0 and lost to Mexico and Haiti by similar 0-3 margins. Mexico went on to lose the final to the USA 1-4.
These performances have no doubt fueled the GFF to ensure that consistency is the name of the game as it would strengthen the foundation that has already began to take shape in this regard. The GFF’s vision is being further supported by both FIFA and Concacaf which have each stated their continued aim of advancing the women’s game.
Concacaf has noted that their vision is to improve the lives of women by working together with its 41 Member Associations on three main objectives: changing perceptions, building sustainable foundations and growing participation.
FIFA on the other end of the pitch has recently informed that, “In line with FIFA’s Women’s Football Strategy, the FIFA Women’s Development Programme aims to provide all 211 member associations with the opportunity to apply for and access additional resources and specialist expertise to develop women’s football at a national level.”
President Forde was engaged by this writer to share the Federation’s views on Women’s development, he states the reason (s) for the rise in achievement of the female game.
”I think it is important to first put the success of the Women’s programme into context. No doubt we have experienced tremendous success at the international level over the past couple of years at almost every level and this must be celebrated. However, we have thus far been unable to grow the women game locally, in a manner consistent with the vision of the Executive Committee. This is the real challenge, and until we are able to achieve this, the job remains incomplete.
The good performances of our female National Teams are no accident, we have been very deliberate with our strategies and have made the necessary investments to support our goals. We have a very committed Management team that goes above and beyond to ensure that the players are given the best opportunity to perform at their best and they have all risen to the occasion and made all of Guyana proud.”
How important is it for the investment in the two facilities, to begin with, to further enhance the female game?
“There is a severe lack of quality football infrastructure across Guyana. This has been a challenge for many years but it has had a unique impact of the Women’s game. Less than 1% of all community grounds are without adequate dressing rooms and wash room facilities. This is an immediate deterrent for female players and their parents which have resulted in low participation at the community level.
We have to treat our female footballers in a dignified manner by ensuring that they feel safe and comfortable within the football spaces. The GFF plans to improve at least one community ground in each of our Regional Member Associations in the short term, with plans to accelerate this programme in the coming years. We will continue to engage the Government of Guyana and our corporate partners to assist us in this endeavor. We simply cannot do it alone.”
The level of commitment from FIFA in this aspect of the sport, your thoughts?

”Across the globe there is a clearer understanding of the tremendous positive impact football has on females. There are many studies that highlight the socioeconomic effects of broad participation by girls and women in football. There is also the business side of the equation, every female that engages football will go on to become a fan, which can be measured in viewership, ticket sales, etc.
FIFA and Concacaf understands this and have placed great emphasis on the growth of the Women’s game and we are obliged to do our part here in Guyana. In 2021, the Nation will witness an exciting season of female football at the primary and secondary school levels, community tournaments and Club competitions as well.
We have naturally gifted athletes in Guyana who only need the opportunity to showcase their talent – the GFF will continue to work hard as is needed towards this but I must reiterate, we cannot do it alone.”

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