FA to host female festival in effort to boost interest ahead of domestic season

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Female football in Antigua is set for a boost with the staging of a female football festival.
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By Neto Baptiste

The Antigua and Barbuda Football Association (ABFA) is hoping that the introduction of a female football festival will spark new interest in the sport here.

This is according to technical director and former national player, Sowerby Gomes, who said the event is earmarked for July with hopes of starting a league soon after.

“We are looking to use that particular festival to start or springboard our female programme and that is part of our calendar and so that is the next main topic on the agenda for us coming out of our youth under-17s and under-19 boys leagues, to start us a female football festival so that we can drum up support and have a very active football programme this time around,” he said. 

Fort Road captured the FA’s female competition held in 2023 in which seven teams competed. It was the body’s first female competition since 2020 which was mainly due to the Covid 19 pandemic.

Gomes said the FA will also be making a concerted effort to ensure that the 2024/25 domestic season gets off to an early start.

“We are looking to close off our registration by August of this year and we have a close off date of the 21st of August and we are looking to start First and Second Division within the first week of September and hopefully start the Premier Division around the 5th of October. We would definitely have a fixture that would be able to go around by early September so teams would know who is playing who right throughout the season,” he said.

All Saints United captured this year’s Premier Division while Potters Tigers, Five Islands and Attacking Saints were promoted to the top flight. Freeman’s Village Scorpions, FC Master Ballers and Urlings were elevated to the First Division.

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