Coaches commend female football focus efforts

THE EFFORTS OF the female committee of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Football Federation (SVGFF) have been lauded by coaches Andrew Bramble and Theon Gordon.

The committee, during the month of December, hosted activities at the Victoria Park geared towards getting greater involvement of females in football.

Dubbed : “The month of female football”, the female committee staged a female schools’ football festival, a female fun day as well as matches under the lights at the Victoria Park, involving club teams.

But it was the female schools’ festival that touched the nerve of hope for Bramble and Gordon.

Bramble, who is the national Under-15 female team coach, in reference to the female festival, stated: “It is a very good initiative by the (SVG) Football Federation and the female committee…. Something like this should not be a one shot occurrence … It is something that should be done every three months.”

Continuing his commendations, Bramble related to SEARCHLIGHT, “I am pleased to have seen some many young ladies on show …The future looks bright for female football in St Vincent and the Grenadines…I was looking at one of the teams and I noticed that a significant portion of the players are in form on, so you know right there we have a platform in which we can build.”

Like Bramble, Gordon wants to see continuity in the efforts.

“It was a good initiative… We need to have more of these; I saw a lot of positives, hardly any negatives… All we need now is some consistent work with them …In the next four years, we should see a lot of development, once we continue in this vein,” Gordon outlined.

Gordon was also high in praise for the female committee’s ability to outfit all the fourteen school teams that were part of the festival, and more so providing the participants with footwear, funding their transportation, the provision of lunch and snacks and the ability to attract sponsors.

“What we can look at now, is how we can get the general public more involved, as they need to come and see what are the potentials of female football here in St Vincent and the Grenadines”, Gordon

proffered.

The female schools’ festival was staged under the theme: “Making our dreams a reality with the ball at our feet”, while the female fun day had as its tagline “Keep the ball in play.”

The Troumaca Ontario Secondary, the Dr JP Eustace Memorial, the Georgetown Secondary, the Girls’ High School, the Intermediate High, the Barrouallie Secondary, the George Stephens Secondary, the Buccament Bay Secondary, the Sandy Bay Secondary, North Union Secondary, Emmanuel High Mespo, West St. George Secondary, Thomas Saunders Secondary, Bethel High School, and the Petit Bordel Secondary, are the institutions involved in the female schools’ football programme, with all fourteen represented at the festival.

The female fun day had the participation of nine teams Owia, QCESCO Biabou, K& R Strikers, Volcanoes, System 3 Academy, North Leeward Predators, Camdonia Chelsea, Jebelle and SV United.

The female schools’ festival, also served as a scouting opportunity for clubs, as it would soon be mandatory for clubs to have a female component to their set up.