By Neto Baptiste
General Secretary of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Camara David said the recently concluded Girls’ Under-14 Challenge Series held here achieved its main objectives.
The series climaxed on Sunday with Puerto Rico claiming Tier I honours and Martinique taking Tier II honours at the Antigua and Barbuda Football Association (ABFA) technical center on the Sir Sydney Walling Highway.
“I think we ticked a lot of the boxes we wanted to in terms of development, and given that it was a girls’ competition we had an all-female cast of referees; those are the kind of things that are often overlooked and I think we were able to succeed in those areas,” he said.
A total of 20 teams took part in the competition with matches played on a daily basis, with the exception of a rest day.
David applauded the ABFA for ensuring the tournament ran smoothly.
“It has shown the world, and specifically CONCACAF and FIFA, that Antigua and Barbuda is quite capable of hosting large sporting events, so hooray and congrats to Rohan Hector, the General Secretary of the ABFA. There were some kinks and some obstacles along the way but he was able to quickly eradicate that and help us to successfully host the competition. So, in terms of moving forward, the Antigua and Barbuda Football Association definitely now has the experience to host large groups,” the GS said.
Media relations officer for the CFU, Mickel Brann Challenger, reminded that the competition serves as a breeding ground for not only talented players, but talented officials as well.
“This competition introduces our teams to international competition and this is the first [phase] so they will go on to contest the CONCACAF Under-15 next year and then to under-17s and all of the ranks. All of the match coordinators and venue coordinators all start here, so you do well and you get appointments to the other levels. Our referees get the referees’ training so what we do is look at it and we find the ways to ensure that the developmental objectives are met and we try to find ways to add value,” she said.
Puerto Rico were 5-0 winners over Aruba in Tier I while Martinique won 4-3 on penalties over Guadeloupe in Tier II.
About The Author
