Mosah Mokganedi
28 March 2008
Gaborone — The Women Football League Committee (WFLC) chairperson, Agreement Podi has expressed satisfaction that the women soccer is slowly but surely making a mark. He said this have been evidenced by, among things, the media attention that the national women team and league is getting.
He said the formation of the national team has boosted the women's game. The women league has been running without a sponsor but is now hoping for good tidings in the coming season. The Botswana Football Association (BFA) is currently in talks with a potential sponsor to finance the league.
Podi says the talks are going on well and things are promising. BFA chief executive officer Tosh Kgotlele agreed the talks are promising though he did not divulge more information on the issue. The number of clubs in the women's league has increased by two this season. Two more clubs are expected to join in the coming season and if things go well, the Ghanzi area will start its own league.
Podi said the region has registered 12 clubs - enough to make a league. The women league is currently confined to Gaborone and the surrounding areas only. Podi explained that clubs' tactical awareness has improved as players now display maturity in their play.
"You will realise that nowadays, players do understand the purpose of the game unlike in the past when they were only playing for fun," he said. However, he expressed worry that women are always reluctant to take places of responsibility in committees in female soccer. He believes the women game will grow better if it is led by women. "I encourage women to always stand for elections. We want to be in women football only as helpers not as leaders," he said.
The current league season comes to an end next weekend and Podi said they have learnt lessons. He promised a more interesting league next season. Though he described the league as a success, he pointed out that they had a few hiccups.
One problem that affected the league this season is the national team assignments. Podi said they had to change their calendar time and again to release players for national duty. The other problem that women soccer face is non-conducive venues. So severe is the problem that the league committee has decided to take it to the BFA.
Podi said now that the players are playing at international level, league games should be played in grounds that suit their standards. He said it was unfortunate that players only get a chance to play on the turf during national assignments and this may affect their performance.
He said they will find a way of helping clubs that failed to honour fixtures. "In most cases it is an issue of poor management," Podi explained. He asserted that the women game is growing fast and that every team should maintain the pace. "We cannot afford to have some teams lagging behind while others are moving forward. Otherwise we will have to divide teams into two divisions," he said.
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