There has been strong participation and enthusiasm at the National Sports Council Girls’ Primary School Futsal Championship, which continued on Wednesday at the Garfield Sobers Gymnasium with eight schools competing.
Coordinator Soraya Toppin-Herbert said the tournament has been well received by the participating schools, adding that while the enthusiasm is encouraging, there is still room for improvement in performance levels.
“So far it’s been going really good. The girls have been enjoying the game, there’s been a lot of excitement and most of the schools have had a full squad,” Toppin-Herbert said.
She explained that there have even been requests for more girls to participate in the event, which had its genesis in a seven-a-side rally held at the end of the first school term.
“We would have seen some interest from the schools and then also building on that, we also have an internal interest at the National Sports Council of increasing female involvement in sports and keeping the girls engaged.
“We don’t want that we do something in December, say, of last year, and then for the whole year, there’s nothing else. Also, we know that for the most part the boys have BICO (The NSC/BICO Football Competition). We have a couple of girls that play in the BICO competition but the majority of them do not,” Toppin-Herbert added.
The coach, who has also represented the senior national women’s football team and is a former Director of Women’s Football for the Bahamas Football Association, says the event has seen varying skill levels being exposed.
“We have some girls who play with the boys so they’re a little tougher and they’re trying things on the ball, and then we have some that it is their first time coming to kick the ball, so it’s been mixed. I think for us really seeing that there’s interest that we can work with, that’s really what is very good,” she concluded.
(KH)
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