SVGFF recommits to Women’s Football

The Executive of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Football Federation is re-affirming its commitment towards advancing Women’s Football here.{{more}}

This commitment follows the Fifth FIFA Women’s Symposium held in Frankfurt, Germany, last month and attended by General Secretary of the SVGFF Ian Hypolite and local coach Keith Ollivierre.

Hence, the SVGFF endeavours to reach out to female teachers, in an attempt to energise the sport at the school level among female students.

The Federation is also inviting females who are 15 and under to take part in the upcoming Under-15 championship, with the view of establishing an Under-15 or U-16 team at national or club level.

According to a release from the SVGFF, “A common goal for us all, hence to ensure that every girl who wants to play football should have the opportunity to do so.”

At present, Women’s Football in St. Vincent and the Grenadines has been left, in the main, to evolve from several outfits coming together.

The emergence of the Grassroots initiative has seen a rise in the number of females coming forward, but not at the pace required.

However, the SVGFF also proposes to re-examine the Female Committee or the Competition Committee that recently organized a Seven-A- Side competition, with a view to making it more functionally able.

The first known organized female competition here in St. Vincent and the Grenadines was in the mid 1990’s, when the then Pepsi Sion Hill Football League included a Female Division in its operations, through the initiative of Randy Patrick and Bertram Bascombe.

The global thrust towards developing the Women’s game was propelled by current FIFA President Joseph “Sepp” Blatter, who thinks that the future of Football is feminine.

Under Blatter’s leadership, FIFA has mandated that fifteen per cent of the annual draw down through its Football Assistance Programme(FAP) must be spent on Women’s Football.

In furthering Blatter’s beliefs, at last month’s Women’s World Cup in Germany, the total prize money was US $10 million, an increase of $2.4 million on the previous World Cup four years ago.

Still a strong supporter of Women’s Football, Blatter some years ago urged women footballers to wear skimpier kits to increase the popularity of the women’s game.

He proposed then to let the women play in more feminine clothes, as they do in Volleyball and have them sport tighter shorts.

But, will the SVGFF follow Blatter’s suggestions in order to promote the sport here?