INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY 2018
MESSAGE BY PRESIDENT OF THE GUYANA FOOTBALL FEDERATION – WAYNE FORDE
Today Guyana joins the rest of the world in celebrating the invaluable contribution of women as we observe another International Women’s Day under the theme #PressForProgress. This focus builds on last year’s #BeBoldForChange and calls attention to collective and greater efforts towards gender parity.
The Guyana Football Federation (GFF) continues to make significant strides to facilitate the involvement of more women and girls in the beautiful game of football. Through our technical development strategy, we have in our employ, a full-time Women’s Development Officer whose mandate it is to implement the national women’s development football programme. Through this programme, we have raised the profile of women’s football in Guyana: on a weekly basis, more girls are introduced to the game via the Grassroots and formal programme of the nationwide GFF-Scotiabank Academy Training Centres (ATCs) and there is increased national encampment for girls to continuously harness their football / life skills and match readiness. Additionally, in 2017, Guyana hosted the CONCACAF U17 Women’s Qualifiers, which was a major boost to the young female footballers, and the GFF executed the Women’s Development League. The latter initiatives saw the talent and potential of female footballers from across Guyana on display.
In a sport that is historically male-dominated, the Council has committed to gender parity and is continuously building an enabling and supportive environment for women and girls to participate, function effectively and realize their potential. The fraternity has an expanding base of women involved in various capacities at leadership, technical and administrative levels – coach, referee, physiotherapist, team manager, equipment manager, professional staff etc. The current Council has three women who serve to inform policies and execute the mandate of the GFF, a remarkable accomplishment regionally and, arguably, globally. Additionally, December 2017 saw the election of a new president of the National Association of Women’s Football (NAWF) who has committed to the development of women’s football especially in the hard-to-reach areas of Guyana.
Last year, we had a month-long observance through weekly newspaper features of some of the women who contributed to football development in Guyana. This year it is no different; we will honour our girls and women by showcasing them, via social media, in the daily #TheAssist, a social media series, which seeks to inspire, encourage, inform and motivate.
This is an exciting time for women’s football in Guyana; the pitch has been set. It’s now up to all of us (football administrators, technical staff, players, corporate partners and fans) to unite, put our heads and hands together, #PressForProgress and realize the dream of every girl and woman: to live in a world where equal opportunities are afforded to realize their best self.
Happy International Women’s Day!