The St. Kitts-Nevis Football Association (SKNFA) commemorated the CONCACAF Women’s Football Day on Saturday, 18th November, with a street march and a football festival held on the Saddler’s playing field.
All 41 member associations within the Confederation held activities aimed at creating greater awareness of the game for girls and women.
Chairperson Alecia Collins is the newly appointed SKNFA executive with responsibility for Women’s Football in the federation. Verna Grant of Nevis is the deputy chairperson.
While the celebration is slated for the 18th November, the Women’s Football Committee started the celebrations on Nevis a day earlier.
Activities on Nevis included a Join-in March in which groups of girls and women joined the march from various points along the route. That march ended at the Elquemedo Willett Park where a rally was held.
Several business enterprises pledged their support to women’s football on Nevis at various points along the route by presenting a football to one of the girls, as a symbolic gesture of their commitment to support women’s football on Nevis.
On St. Kitts, the day was marked with a march on the Island Main Road of the Saddler’s community. Almost 200 girls and women participated in the march that ended in a rally.
A football festival officiated by female referees and female coaches was held in an effort to stimulate more interest in football among girls.
One of the highlights of the day was the appearance of the Under-20 National Women’s Football Team that will be playing against teams from Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Jamaica in the upcoming CONCACAF Women’s Under-20 Football Qualifiers to be held at Warner Park.
Collins said, “This was to show our girls that they can work their way from the Grassroots Program up to playing football at the national level and beyond.”
The Under-20 team also engaged in a friendly match against an all-star team.
“We wanted the girls to see the national team in action,” Collins said, adding, “We really want to inspire more girls to play the sport of football.”
Entertainment was provided by Inferno Sounds.