BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – “THE future of football is feminine and therefore at least 15 percent of all grants should be invested in the development of women’s football.”
This statement was made a few years ago by FIFA’s President Stepp Blatter and was repeated at the opening ceremony of a FIFA Women’s Football Technical Course held at the Football House in Lozack Road, Basseterre on Saturday, January 15.
Building on this vision, the St. Kitts and Nevis Football Association (SKNFA) has sought to ensure that female footballers in the Federation are equipped with the necessary skills and knowledge of the world’s most played outdoor game.
The one-week course, which began on Friday with 25 participants, is being conducted by FIFA’s Women’s Instructor Andrea Rodebaugh at the Football House and is scheduled to end on Saturday, January 22.
In his opening remarks, SKNFA’s General Secretary Stanley Jacobs said that the course is very important towards the holistic development of the sport among females in St. Kitts and Nevis, adding that the growth of this discipline is being driven by females.
“Football has become a worldwide phenomenon to some 30 million men and women who play football. The statistics shows that one in every 10 footballers are women…women and girls are driving the growth of football throughout the world.”
Jacobs said the vision expressed by FIFA’s President several years ago continues to remain a reality, noting that evidence of women’s growth and development in the sport is being demonstrated on the international stage in terms of the success and popularity of FIFA’s-organised competitions.
General Secretary Jacobs lauded what he said was the tremendous success of FIFA’s Under-15 Women World Cup in Trinidad and Tobago. He pointed out that the involvement of women continues to push the sport to a new level. He also said that women’s football attracts enormous television viewership, adding that this is a true demonstration of the profitability and marketability of the sport.
“Women’s football…it is through proactive development and foresight that women’s football will develop. It is through FIFA that this will happen, and we are very happy to be here today as we seek through our own to assist in developing football here in St. Kitts and Nevis. It is the growth and involvement of women which is taking football to another level,” he stressed.
Jacobs declared that one of the association’s challenges is addressing the issue of its pool of players. He pointed out that because of the Federation’s size, making the sport popular while providing an alternative is what his association would seek to address.
“We are happy to begin this journey. We know that we have the talent but it is only a small pool of us. So the challenge for us is to make women football a popular sport and an alternative sport, because traditionally you would think that women in St. Kitts and Nevis did not play football for a very long time but it continues to grow in popularly and it provides an alternative,” he added.
President of the SKNFA Anthony Johnson expressed gratitude for his association’s ability in being able to have the course staged in the Federation. He pointed out that it is a historic one because this is the first time that such a course is being held in St. Kitts and Nevis.
Johnson said that 4.1 million woman and girls are playing football and 20 000 of them have gotten their FA coaching qualifications. He said that there are 150 women who currently hold their UEFA certificate in coaching.
President Johnson informed that FIFA has mandated that 15 percent of their yearly US$250 000 grant to each of its 208 members must be invested for the development of women’s football.
“We at SKNFA intends to continue with the development of women’s football, as while women’s football history has been short here for us we have already achieved tremendous success, as not only have we won matches but we even won our group which included teams like Suriname and Barbados,” he said.
Minister of Sports Glen Phillip commended the executive of the SKNFA. “I would like to take this opportunity to recognise the leadership of the Football Association and commend President Johnson and the hardworking SKNFA team, whose commitment to fair play and dedication to youth development seek to follow progressive map towards reaching the clear technical and practical goals of preparing our female athletes for the establishment of a domestic Women Football League in 2011 and the Olympic Qualifiers later this year.”
Minister Phillip said he believes that these goals are realizable, noting he firmly believes that the SKNFA has had a very proud history of galvanising national support around the “great sport” of football that engenders team and community spirit.
Minister of Gender Affairs Marcella Liburd, in speaking to the participants, urged them to grasp the many opportunities being presented. She told them that they have an opportunity of being entered into the annals of history and commending them for their success thus far.
Liburd said she is very proud of how beautiful and uniformed they looked in their FIFA-sponsored outfit and exclaimed that being uniformed sends a strong message of togetherness.
“Being uniformed sends a strong message of togetherness, a sense of orgainsation even if you are not organised. Teamwork is very important also…as a matter of fact, it is extremely important. It also sends a sense of respect for self, organisation and country; self-development for sport and country.”
She added that the young ladies should be very serious and committed about the hard, dedicated and discipline that are needed for success in this sport.
“You either serious or not as you would be expected to give it your all. You must have a passion for it and there must be no excuses, as too many times we try to find all kinds of flimsy excuses. And if you want to make I there must be no excuses, so you must be on time every day and doing what is required so that you can be the best.”
The Gender Affairs Minister reminded the girls that having a passion for the game would help them in being successful. She said it would also help them in other areas of their lives, and using herself as an example she spoke about the many traits and qualities one garners from being disciplined in any team sport.
“You must have passion and wanting to be successful. This is a very exciting time for women and I want to stress that when you invest in women that is the best thing that you can do.”
Meanwhile, Rodebaugh thanked the SKNFA for organising the course and noted that she is eagerly looking forward to a most interesting and successful encounter. She said that FIFA continues to see the importance of women in the sport, and this resulted in the organisation’s growing investment to the discipline’s growth and development.
“I do not need to repeat the statistics that were given earlier but just to say that investment in women forms part of FIFA’s advancement plans, and therefore my presence here is a testimony of that,” she said.
Rodebaugh noted that development of women’s football is very important when taking the enormous revenues and rapidly growing viewership that is associated with it into consideration.
She added that the collaborative approach of non-governmental and governmental agencies helps in fostering growth and development. She also noted that her organisation has a very strong passion for partnership and commended the various ministries that are playing a meaningful role in the execution of the course.
“I am very happy to see that you have been able to garner the support of some of your ministries, as it will help greatly in ousting the sport. Partnerships are what we at FIFA also seek as we believe that with collaboration you can achieve much more,” Rodbebaugh said.
