Maurice Kambukwe
The upcoming Confederation of African Football (CAF) under-15 7-aside Schools Girl Tournament is of vital importance and will go a long way in promoting women football, tournament coordinator Astrid Vries strongly believes.
The tournament, which will see eight local schools girls’ teams going toe-to-toe, was initially scheduled to take place between February and May this year but had to be postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and a new date will soon be communicated once the situation normalises.
The Namibia Football Association (NFA) is one of the 16 football associations selected by CAF to stage such tournaments for under-15 school girls. Early this week, CAF delivered on its financial promise as each participating school received N$10 000 as preparatory grants.
The eight participating schools are A.I. Steenkamp Primary School, Amazing Kids Private School and Academy, Bethold Himumuine Primary School, Faith Primary School, Goreangab Secondary School, Mandume Primary School, M.H. Greef Primary School and Tobias Hainyeko Primary School.
The above schools were chosen based on their involvement and performance in the NFA Galz & Goals League. The competition aims to develop women’s football on the continent and create more football competitions for women and girls.
Speaking to New Era Sport, Vries who is spearheading the project said the tournament will provide a raft of opportunities for the schoolgirls and will further help bolster the NFA’s efforts in promoting women’s football in Namibia.
“It’s a good opportunity that will help in promoting women football all over the country. Many young girls will be allowed to showcase their talents through this program. It’s a good sign of what we can expect from women football in years to come,” said Vries.
She said if the maiden tournament proves a success then it will possibly be rolled out to other parts of the country.
“It’s an under-15 project, it would be focused mainly here in Windhoek and we want to ensure talent is identified at a young age. We want it to be a success in Windhoek and then we can branch out to other regions to ensure everyone gets to be part of this initiative,” elaborated Vries.
-mkambukwe@nepc.com.na