Cayman football may be on the verge of a big breakthrough. Nearly 200 girls and young women turned out last Saturday in George Town to join a new league being formed by the Cayman Islands Girls Football Organization. Although the Cayman Islands Football Association has successfully developed a competitive women’s league in recent years, younger age groups still need more attention, say observers.
Girls were out in force Saturday at the Truman Bodden Sports Complex. Is a football revolution underway in the Cayman Islands? |
If it takes hold, this new grassroots effort by the Girls Football Organization could be the catalyst for something big-very big. The United States offers Cayman a glaring example of what is possible. Their women’s program was virtually nonexistent until a small but dedicated core of players, coaches, administrators, sponsors and fans worked a miracle and turned the US women’s team into a world beater. Cleary there was female football talent and desire lost in the shadows of American sport. It took opportunity and encouragement to bring it out in the light. This may very well happen here. Given the generally low level of women’s football development in the Caribbean and the potency of Cayman’s economy, we have the potential to do very well despite our small population if we invest the time and money necessary to nurture Caymanian talent and desire.
League organizer Sue Greene is not only interested in seeing a Cayman Islands team rule Caribbean football, how-ever. She wants the sport to deliver even bigger returns to local girls. She sees football as just one of several big dreams that every girl in Cayman should carry around inside.
‘Cayman girls want to be lawyers, accountants, doctors, and Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, president of Rotary and, yes, their ambitions include being football champions of the Caribbean, and a shot at the World Cup is not far fetched,’ declares Greene. ‘Nothing is wrong with these ambitions. Dreams drive change. Change is inevitable.’
Greene says she recognized a ‘growing love for the game’ among girls in the Cayman Islands that was not being satisfied. They simply don’t have the same opportunities that boys have here and that must change, she says. Judging by the enthusiastic turnout for Saturday’s registration and kick-around, Greene is on target.
The Cayman Islands Girls Football Organization’s new league will cater to girls aged 5-12 and will be structured as a recreational league with no direct connection to schools.
‘The league will build a foundation for girls football in the Cayman Islands, assist in building the girls’ football skills, foster self-esteem and teach them the importance of being a team player on and off the field,’ said Greene. ‘It will encourage them to be active and more athletic, to get into the routine of a purpose-filled life. They will learn to handle defeat, learn to lead, learn to cultivate a disciplined lifestyle. Players will learn to apply those principles to achieve academic success. They will learn to make their families proud, their communities proud, their country proud. Football has done so much for boys all over the world, including Cayman, for decades. It is only now emerging as a tool to assist young woman. We are determined that Cayman girls will not be left behind.’
There is still time to register for the girls football league. For more information, email Sue Greene at [email protected]
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