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WOMEN’S FOOTBALL IGNITES THE SPORT

Published: 28-12-2012 15:00
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FIFA President Sepp Blatter has recently gone on record as saying words to the effect that the future of football lies in the women’s game. One can interpret these thoughts in the sense that the fairer sex have it in them to make the sport more popular in years to come and render it more colourful in all the continents.    Women have added a strong dose of physical prowess to football, as well as tactical awareness evident in teamwork. Fine footwork, headwork and intelligent positioning are also conspicuous as coaches have succeeded in raising the standards of women’s football worldwide. This progress can be seen in Malta, a small country with a population of just over 400,000 inhabitants. Teams have mushroomed all over the country and thanks to the women’s department of the Malta Football Association which operates within the association’s technical centre, women’s football has come a long way.     The country’s national team is showing signs of vitality and it is no co-incidence that Malta’s senior women’s football team have won three consecutive matches lately, a clear sign that coaches are working on the right lines. All this is sustained by the association’s commitment to cater for grassroots football in the women’s sector, where girls in primary schools are encouraged to take up the game and all along nursed to acquire refined technical skills. As part of this program a festival was held on the 27th December 2012 at the Centenary Stadium within the MFA’s Football Complex at Ta’ Qali The activity attracted 140 girls between the ages of 6 and 13 who enjoyed themselves amid a colourful Christmas atmosphere. Among these girls there were 43 complete novices to football who were not previously registered with any club. Many of these came from schools via the programmes that are being run by the MFA Technical Centre. The festival catered for girls of different age categories and varying skills, starting with the very beginners and ending with the experienced participants. A commemorative FIFA T-Shirt was given to each girl who registered for the festival. As a form of encouragement the girls were again presented with a gift if they introduced a friend to football. The festival came to a close with the presentation of footballs to the girls who introduced a friend to football by the Malta Football Association Chief Executive Officer, Bjorn Vassallo and Robert Gatt, MFA Technical Director. To make the activity more attractive the coaching was done by the women’s national team coaches, the MFA Girls’ Academy coaches and the women national team players together with coaches of several clubs. The coaches were very much part of the festival, including several Malta national team players, three of whom attended the Press Conference held at the festival. Technical Director Robert Gatt stated that the MFA Technical Centre has been working very hard these last years in the Women National Team and the girls’ academies and has a total of 160 girls and Women. When addressing the media, MFA C.E.O. Mr. Vassallo stated that the Association believes that women’s football is simply pure and echoes UEFA’s & FIFA’s beliefs that women’s football is continuously growing and with these governing bodies’ help the MFA will continue to invest heavily in women’s football.National team players Kathleen Saliba, Jade Flask and Dionne Tonna also addressed the Press Conference and had positive comments about the activity.This festival was organised under the auspices of the Association together with FIFA’s support. Expressions of thanks are extended to FIFA for their support. General Soft Drinks also backed the event.