Women football is back on the front burner following the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Women’s Fest sponsored by Fernleaf last Sunday at the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Base, Camp Ayanganna.
GFF Technical Director Claude Bolton
The event was the second of two Awareness Outreach programmes that the GFF has used to get women ‘kicking’ again. “It was important for us to get together a sample of young women from various regions out playing, talking about football again, and Fernleaf helped us do that,” said GFF Technical Director Claude Bolton.
He was adamant that the “first precept of development has to be fun; that’s what today was about”. From the abundance of smiles on the field, fun seemed to have been had by all.
Meanwhile, the GFF will formally introduce its Next Generation Project Technical Plan today.
“This endeavour clearly places at the forefront of Guyana football development the areas of grassroots, youth, women, and coaching education,” a release from the GFF was quoted.
New Amsterdam teacher Onefa George, who participated as a player in the Fernleaf GFF Women’s Fest, praised the event.
“[It was] very encouraging. It was nice to see so many young players out. As a woman and a teacher, it is good to see that sport is still alive among women…this can be a catalyst for women to step up and carry it further,” she said.
The participants were also treated to a quick hello from the GFF Senior Men’s Team Head Coach, Jamaal Shabbazz. The Golden Jaguars Coach then stayed on to scout the Under-23 exhibition match between Berbice and East Demerara that followed, as he is looking to assemble a squad for the upcoming Olympic Qualifiers.
“The GFF is looking forward to having a continued working relationship with Fernleaf and other corporate sponsors as we keep women’s football in the forefront of our footballing community with more events soon to come,” the GFF said.
Source: http://www.guyanatimesgy.com/2015/04/22/fernleaf-gff-get-women-back-on-the-field/