
By Neto Baptiste
Seven teams will compete in the Antigua and Barbuda Football Association’s (ABFA) senior women’s football competition set to kick off June 23 at the body’s technical and training facility located on the Sir Sydney Walling Highway.
Ottos Tigress, All Saints United, FC Aston Villa, Trendsetters out of Golden Grove, Wadadli United out of Jennings, and Cutting Edge out of Greenbay, will all compete for top honours in what will be the first female competition since 2020 due to Covid-19.
Sowerby Gomes, the FA’s technical director, said the teams will play at least two competitions.
“We will start with the knockout format and at the end of the knockout we will go right into the league format in order to drive the competitiveness and to get the females all prepared in competition mode because as you know, the Concacaf Nations League will be kicking off with the females later this year, and we are looking to start national practice, so this league will also add to their preparedness for that national league set up and at the same time, allowing the coaches the best prepared females for their line ups,” he said.
Gomes, a former national defender, said the league will also assist in preparing players for the pending Concacaf W Gold Cup qualifiers.
“Based on what’s happening on the ground with the girls in the various communities, it is gearing up to be a very competitive one, and what I can tell you is that there will be a large contingent of young players now competing at the senior level. Two or three years back when we last had the league, there were quite a few players who were around fifteen years old who were playing in the under-17 category, so they have now moved up the ranks and will filter into the various community teams, and you also have players who have been off on football scholarships and will be coming back to join their respective communities. For some of them, it would be their first time playing at this particular level, and there are also returning past players,” he said.
Antigua and Barbuda has been drawn in Group A of League B for the 2023 Road to Concacaf’s Women’s Gold Cup qualifiers with the prelims set to start in February next year.
The Benna Girls are grouped alongside powerhouse Suriname, and neighbour Dominica.