The Guyana Football Federation (GFF) in collaboration with the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) and the National Women’ Football Association (NAWF) officially launched their Women’s Development League yesterday at the National Racquet Centre.
The event, which will be played in a group format, will commence September 17th.
The sub associations will be divided into three districts with the Georgetown Football Association (GFA), West Demerara Football Association (WDFA) and Bartica Football Association comprising district one and they will be represented by Fruta Conquerors, the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), Foxy Ladies and Bartica.
District two will feature the Berbice Football Association (BFA), East Demerara Football Association (EDFA), Upper Demerara Football Association (UDFA) and East Bank Football Association (EBFA) and New Amsterdam Warriors, West Side Conquerors, Demerara Queens, Kwakwani Strikers and Kuru-Kuru Warriors will represent that district.
The third district, the Rupununi Football Association, will have Saints FC, Snatchers FC, Paiwomak FC and Shulinab FC as the competing teams.
Venues and grounds that will be used are Tucville, Bartica, Uitvlugt, Mackenzie Sports Club (MSC), no. #5, Kwakwani, New Amsterdam, Grove Community, Saints, Shulinab and Annai.
Teams will be allowed to register a maximum of 15 players in the seven-a-side event, with a minimum of 12 players allowed.
Three points will be awarded for a win, while one point will be afforded to both teams for a draw.
Each team must register four under-15 players in the championship.
Valerie Garrido-Lowe, Minis-ter within the Ministry of Indigenous Affairs, during the feature address, said it was an historic day for women’s football.
According to Garrido-Lowe, the GFF must be praised for the initiative which she said was on par with the international development of the sport.
Stating that football was the best sport in the world, she said that the women’s game had become exceptionally competitive with players such as Marta, Alex Morgan and Carli Lloyd dominating the discipline and displaying skills that are on par and at times better than the male section.
Garrido-Lowe pointed out that FIFA was rightfully expanding the women’s game to match the male version and she challenged the GFF to raise the level of the women’s arm so that more local representation on the national setup can be realized.
She thanked the federation for providing her the opportunity to be patron of the tournament and suggested that the relationship between the entities can only get better in the future.
Speaking on behalf of the GFF President Wayne Forde, second Vice-President Rawlston Adams said the main objective is to produce a competitive and developmental environment as well as to create awareness of this faculty of the sport.
According to Adams, the GFF understands the importance of the league as the women’s aspect has lagged behind the male division.
He said that the tournament will provide the opportunity to narrow this deficit and said that for many years the women’s arm has been deprived of the resources and the opportunities afford to their male counterparts.
Adams said that the event once again displays the commitment of the current federation towards football in the country and that their long-term goal is to make the country the envy of CFU on and off the field.
President of the NAWF Charmaine Wade declared that FIFA has placed more emphasis on women’s football, stating that several years prior, only five percent of the GFF subvention represented women’s development but now that number has risen to 20 percent.
She concluded by praising the GFF executive committee for its commitment to the development of women’s football.
The event will utilize female match commissioners who will be selected from the list of Lavern Fraser-Thomas, Melissa Roberts, Tamika Boatswain, Beverly Field, Pamela Humphrey, Darshanie Yussuf, Shalini Thakur-Jagdeo, Phyllis Hercules, Alana Bose, Narissa Pearson, Feliz Robertson, Andrea Johnson, Wanika Arendale and Wanita Huburn.
The prospective ambassadors of the event include Shemika Marques, Collette Hope, Alicia Adams, Odesa Romeo and Shania Riley. Representatives of the Ministries of Sports and Social Protection, the National Sports Commission and the Guyana Olympic Association were in attendance.
