Most of the Primary schools on Nevis, were well represented at a march held on Friday 17th November.
The march was held in keeping with the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF’s) celebration of its third annual Women’s Football Day, which was actually celebrated on Saturday, November 18, 2017.
‘Building on the success of the second women’s day held in 2016, in which all 41 Member Associations within the Confederation united to shine a spotlight on efforts to create more opportunity for girls and women to play the game, this year’s event continued CONCACAF’s on-going work to strengthen programming in order to increase women’s participation in the game.’
The young ladies marched from the Memorial Square in Charlestown, up to the ET Willet Park, where a brief ceremony was held, which was chaired by media Specialist, Miss Jadee Caines. She was ably introduced by local Football executive member, Miss Verna Grant.
Among those addressing the gathering were: Director of Youth, Miss Zahnela Claxton, who encouraged the young ladies to continue to strive to excel at the game of Football ‘because girls CAN.’ She noted that when she lived in Texas some time ago, there was a regular girls’ Football program, every weekend.
Asst. Secretary in the Ministry of Social Development, Miss D. Michelle Liburd, who apologized for the absence of Minister Brandy -Williams, noted in her remarks, that it was ‘it is such a joy to live in the second decade of the 21st century because there is such respect for diversity and wonderful opportunities for women in various spheres of life. Among them is the variety of sports in which women can excel and are excelling…’
She encouraged the young ladies to strive to excel at the sport, not only because it is fun but because it could also open doors of opportunity, such as scholarships.
Present at the event also, was Miss Alicia Collins, newly appointed chairperson of women’s Football in the federation and executive member of the SKNFA.
She not only echoed the sentiments of the previous speakers but also brought greetings from President Johnson and distributed Footballs to each school and noted that a similar march would be held in St. Kitts, the following day.
The proceedings climaxed with a dance by some of the female footballers, which was performed on the greens of the ET Willet Park.
The march officially kicks off the preparations for the 2018 CONCACAF U-15 Girls’ Championship. Each Member Association has been encouraged to host an activity aimed at training its U-15 team.