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UEFA thumbs-up for MFA's work in women's football

Published: 08-03-2017 08:50
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The Malta Football Association's on-going drive to promote women's football in the country has been duly recognised by UEFA. Re-investing the financial assistance received from UEFA in some key sectors, like coach education, youth festivals and an elite academy for girls, plus positive branding of the women's game, the Malta FA's work has been identified as a best-practice example in the UEFA Women's Football Development report. A team from the UEFA media and communications department, headed by Elodie Masson, visited Malta last month to prepare a feature on the development of women's football in Malta. The UEFA crew, which also included two professional camera persons, filmed a training session of the MFA Girls Academy at the Mtarfa ground as well as an Under-13 festival in Għargħur. "Women's football projects a very positive image for the game," Malta FA General Secretary Angelo Chetcuti said in his interview with uefa.org. "Our game needs to be much more accessible, and gender balance is one of the areas that needs to be improved on. UEFA's support has been crucial. It helps us fund coach education and our academy, as well as our competitions." Under the heading 'Boosting the women's game in Malta',  the special report on women's football in Malta, enhanced with a compelling video, is the top story on the website www.uefa.org today, also by way of marking International Women's Day. Martina, 12, shared her story on how she was selected to form part of the girls’ academy, alongside 50 promising young players who train on a weekly basis. “Last summer, we had a summer camp organised by the MFA women’s national academy; I had the trials and I got chosen by our coaches, and that’s where I started my career as a football player.” Martina continued: “Football helps me to feel confident, because it shows that we are able to speak up because women are equal to men, and there isn’t any difference.” Click on link below to view feature:  http://www.uefa.org/football-development/womens-football/programme/news/newsid=2446850.html