GFF Women’s Development League officially launched -Four months of matches scheduled

Jun 22, 2022 Sports

Players of the recently launched Women’s Development League take a photo op at the ceremony. Sitting with the players are (L-R): GFF Assistant Technical Director, Bryan Joseph, GFF President – Wayne Forde, UEFA International Relations Project Specialist, Chris Milnes, and Guyana National Association for Women’s Football (NAWF) President, Andrea Johnson.

Kaieteur News- Yesterday, the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) in association with the Danish Football Union (DBU), Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Assist and CONCACAF launched the Women’s Development Football League at the GFF Training Centre, Providence.
The ceremony featured remarks by GFF President, Wayne Forde, UEFA International Relations Project Specialist, Chris Milnes, and Guyana National Association for Women’s Football (NAWF) President, Andrea Johnson, along with GFF Assistant Technical Director, Bryan Joseph.
Forde said, “We are very excited to take one further step into development of women’s will. Much of this would not have been possible without the generous support of our international partners. A few years ago we signed a MoU with the DBU after a warm visit from the Ms. Eva Pasquier, who is the head of International Relations of UEFA and DBU President, (Jesper) Møller, and on that occasion we discussed extensively the developmental needs of Guyana’s football and the importance of the partnership we were forging.”
“We entered into a five years MoU that, to some extent was derailed by the pandemic. Now that we are seeing football returning, it was only timely that we got to get with our partners. Ever since 2020, we started to put the key components in place for the launch of this Tournament.
I am so happy that the good relationship that is so critical and the essential partnership that football generally needs to really realize the vision of the sport, the spirit of football which is to ensure that we operate as a global football family,” the GFF President added.
During Milner’s remarks, he stated, “UEFA Assist has played an important role in the build up to today. With the support of Danish Football Union, DBU, we’re absolutely delighted that we’re able to provide support to the fourth pillar of UEFA Assist, where we connect UEFA Member Associations together with Federations outside of Europe to help develop football.”
UEFA Assist has assisted the GFF with US$30,000, which the Federation used to acquire the equipment for the 37 teams participating in the League.
“Today would not be possible without a close, strong deliberation with the GFF, CONCACAF and DBU developing in the last few years. UEFA Assist has provided funds in terms of infrastructure development. We’ve also been supporting GFF in terms of bouncing back from the pandemic and most recently, with workshops,” Milnes disclosed.
He also revealed that they assisted the Federation with a minivan to assist with their operations. Milner then opined that UEFA take prides in its specialized programmes designed to promote and empower women in football. The UEFA rep then congratulated the Federation for taking the initiative with the hopes that the partnership continues and Women’s Football rises through the ranks.
Johnson said, “My executive and I are elated about this opportunity; we want to say thank you to the GFF, UEFA Assist and the DBU for this opportunity. We are getting back to where we want to be in terms of Women’s Football. All logistical matters for this event will be handled by my Association and I can assure you that this tournament will be a remarkable one because we have some really spectacular players coming from all the clubs here.”
Following the launch, the two teams that contested the first match of the League were the Fruta Conquerors and the Guyana Police Force.
According to Joseph, the League will run from June to October at 13 venues across the Nation, a total of four months of Women football, which was a feat unheard of in Guyana. They will then commit to the 2nd edition of the Women’s Super-16 that is scheduled to commence in November.
Joseph, like the rest of attendees, urged the players present to make the most of the opportunities presented to them and enjoy the League to the fullest since they are the primary beneficiaries of this venture.