Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Kuwait City: Kuwait FA President Sheikh Talal Fahad Al Sabah has pledged to support the promotion of women’s football in the Gulf nation and laid down several strategies.
The AFC Women’s Development Programme started in Kuwait with a visit by an AFC delegation to the Gulf nation from September 16 to 19.
The WAP delegation, consisting of AFC Head of Women’s Development Julie Teo and AFC Coaching Instructor Connie Selby, met with Kuwait FA President Sheikh Talal Fahad Al Sabah, KFA Women’s Committee Chairperson Sheikha Naema Alahmed Aljaber Al Sabah, who is also the President of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Women’s Sports Organising Committee, KFA Women’s Committee Deputy Chairperson Dr Salwa Al Azemi, General Secretary of Salwa Al-Sabah Sports Club Rasha Jafar A-Sayeq and KFA Executive Officer and translator Waleed M En Nayef.
Being a country with conservative and traditional values where women still do not play sports openly, the group discussed ways and means to overcome these social and cultural beliefs so as to be able to promote football. Sheikha Naema explained that there is a growing number of girls who are interested in playing football as evidenced in private schools and especially in universities.
Kuwait had formed a senior team to play in the West Asian Football Federation (WAFF) Women’s Championship in 2010 and at the recent AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2014 Qualification Round and did not achieve their desired results. The KFA Women’s Committee thus requested the AFC Women’s Assistance Programme to be implemented to restore the women’s game in Kuwait.
The AFC WAP team and KFA brainstormed a strategy that will suit the current status of women’s football in Kuwait and derived that it is fundamental to start from the basics, that is, at grassroots level and gradually raise awareness and educate parents and the public about women’s football. Another challenge in women’s football is the lack of facilities, especially in securing a field where 11-a-side football can be played. Therefore the revised strategy is to focus on indoor football and gradually build the base from this.
In this regard, the KFA will first aim towards a small target of participating in the 2016 AFC U-14 Girls’ Regional Championship and AFC Women’s U-16 Qualification competitions. They will start to build the base now by co-organising the first-ever girls’ indoor football competition among 15 private schools for girls whose ages range from eight to 16. The competition will be played according to the respective age-group categories and held annually. The next important element in the revised strategy is to develop women coaches. The KFA Women’s Committee then plans to hold a seminar for parents next year in an effort to raise awareness of women’s football.
President of KFA Sheikh Talal said: “KFA will give as much support as possible to solve some of the issues in women’s football and therefore will be identifying a venue which will be dedicated to 11-a-side women’s football. KFA will initiate a dialogue with the Ministry of Education not only on women’s football but men’s football as well. KFA can offer a Grassroots, Introductory or ‘D’ Certificate coaching course as part of university students’ pre-admission qualification. This will help to groom more women coaches who will then be able to promote football in the universities.”
The AFC Delegation also toured the Salwa Al-Sabah Sports Club, one of the three clubs in Kuwait which were built to cater only to women with facilities for various indoor sports. The indoor court at the club is currently being refurbished and is complemented by other excellent facilities such as dressing rooms, medical room, training courts, swimming pool for recovery and a gymnasium, which certainly augur well for women’s futsal and ultimately, football to grow in Kuwait.
The WAP programme was introduced to the MAs as a development tool that aims to customise development programmes according to their level of women’s football and needs.