Fifa notices women’s football in Namibia

THE football governing body Fifa has identified the Namibia Women’s Football development project as one of the most viable and practical ones in the game, a top official told The Namibian Sport this week.

Jackey Gertze, who heads the Namibia Women’s Football Desk and who is also the first female executive member of the Namibia Football Association (NFA), said they were privileged to be identified alongside Costa Rica for their plans to promote women’s football. Gertze said in a space of one year, they managed to establish regional leagues in four regions and are currently making progress in putting up structures in two more regions.The regions that were actively involved in the game last season were Khomas, Karas, Kavango and Kunene, with Caprivi and Oshana currently being targeted.Gertze said that the method is simple – targeting players in schools and colleges in the regions.A league is then formed from the players who are actively playing football at school and college level.But before that, Gertze said they collect data of footballers in the regions and that determines the viability of establishing a league there.She said the first four regions that were identified had an abundance of women footballers and this prompted the establishment of leagues.She said the process is cost effective and this was one of the reasons why Fifa decided to use Namibia’s model as a pilot project at upcoming Fourth Fifa Women’s Football Symposium and the Fifa Women’s World Cup.Namibia was identified after a survey was carried out by Big Count, a data and information collection powerhouse in London, contracted by Fifa.Gertze said apart from being used as a model at the symposium, she believes that the number of women football players in Namibia is growing.In 2006, she said there were already 1 500 players in the various school leagues in the Khomas Region.This year alone, the number skyrocketed to 3 700 players in schools who are registered with the NFA as active footballers.At the moment, players from the women’s national team compete against boys who are playing in the under-17 Khomas Youth League.The Khomas Women’s Football League is currently in off-season and the players are kept busy by competing in the under-17 league for boys.Gertze said the national women’s team consist of 45 players who form the A and B sides, but only 18 are used for national team duties.She said despite recording high margins against the boys in the league, the results do not matter at the moment.”The girls are currently benefiting from the tactical abilities of the boys and it is also good for them to experience the harsh and competitive conditions of football against these boys,” she said.She added that female players need to experience the reality and they have to learn to adopt a match temperament.”They should stand tall when competing and should not feel inferior because they are female,” she added.She said she was happy with some of the players who have shown competitive skills against the boys and the ones who started from scratch and have developed well.Gertze said in a space of one year, they managed to establish regional leagues in four regions and are currently making progress in putting up structures in two more regions.The regions that were actively involved in the game last season were Khomas, Karas, Kavango and Kunene, with Caprivi and Oshana currently being targeted.Gertze said that the method is simple – targeting players in schools and colleges in the regions.A league is then formed from the players who are actively playing football at school and college level.But before that, Gertze said they collect data of footballers in the regions and that determines the viability of establishing a league there.She said the first four regions that were identified had an abundance of women footballers and this prompted the establishment of leagues.She said the process is cost effective and this was one of the reasons why Fifa decided to use Namibia’s model as a pilot project at upcoming Fourth Fifa Women’s Football Symposium and the Fifa Women’s World Cup.Namibia was identified after a survey was carried out by Big Count, a data and information collection powerhouse in London, contracted by Fifa.Gertze said apart from being used as a model at the symposium, she believes that the number of women football players in Namibia is growing.In 2006, she said there were already 1 500 players in the various school leagues in the Khomas Region.This year alone, the number skyrocketed to 3 700 players in schools who are registered with the NFA as active footballers.At the moment, players from the women’s national team compete against boys who are playing in the under-17 Khomas Youth League.The Khomas Women’s Football League is currently in off-season and the players are kept busy by competing in the under-17 league for boys.Gertze said the national women’s team consist of 45 players who form the A and B sides, but only 18 are used for national team duties.She said despite recording high margins against the boys in the league, the results do not matter at the moment.”The girls are currently benefiting from the tactical abilities of the boys and it is also good for them to experience the harsh and competitive conditions of football against these boys,” she said.She added that female players need to experience the reality and they have to learn to adopt a match temperament.”They should stand tall when competing and should not feel inferior because they are female,” she added.She said she was happy with some of the players who have shown competitive skills against the boys and the ones who started from scratch and have developed well.