Member Associations Prepare for Historic Women’s Football Day

With the inaugural CONCACAF Women’s Football Day set to take place on May 23, CONCACAF Member Associations (MAs) are committing their resources to organizing innovative and impactful activities for girls and women around the region.

“It is crucial for CONCACAF to continue the advancement of women’s football while developing grassroots programs and continue achieving major victories,” said CONCACAF President Jeffrey Webb. “My vision was and remains the same -- that every man, woman and child passionate about football has the opportunity to access our beautiful game and develop their skills in order to reinforce CONCACAF’s position in the global arena.”

Thirty-seven of 41 MAs have confirmed their participation in this initiative, which is poised to achieve unprecedented success for the awareness and promotion of the women’s game.

In addition to local football activities and grassroots festivals, MAs will convey the importance of developing women’s football. Furthermore, in multiple cases MAs will be joined by the local Ministry of Health and non-profit organizations, providing vital information about the importance of nutrition, activeness and a healthy lifestyle.

“CONCACAF is thrilled to see the investment and dedication by our Member Associations for this day of celebration for women’s football”, said CONCACAF Executive Committee Member Sonia Bien-Aime. “With festivals, tournaments, skills challenges, women’s football forums, and other exciting activities scheduled to take place on May 23, we are certain that Women’s Football Day will bring global attention to the region and highlight the women’s football success stories taking place in CONCACAF.”

CONCACAF is the leading Confederation for participation in women’s football with nearly three million registered female players. In 2014, the Confederation conducted the first-ever Under-15 tournament for girls in the Cayman Islands. Additionally, CONCACAF also hosted FIFA women’s tournaments for youth players – the U-17 and U-20 Women’s World Cups in Costa Rica and Canada, respectively.

There are currently 30 women’s football leagues at the national association level, including three futsal and three beach soccer leagues. In total, there are 25 youth leagues (U13, U15 and U17), which demonstrate the current focus on women’s youth development, as well as the potential for further growth.

“I warmly congratulate CONCACAF and its member associations for establishing Women’s Football Day and organizing activities on this day,” said Dr. Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Executive Director at UN Women, United Nations entity for gender equality. “The one thing that I know helps to fight gender stereotypes and reaffirm girls, is success in sports. We need to harness the exceptional capacity that sports has to educate and to change attitudes. Through engaging in sports and living its values, women and girls can develop leadership skills, overcome bias, improve their health and become empowered.”

CONCACAF Women’s Football Day will officially kick-off Saturday at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time with a video message from President Jeffrey Webb, with activities continuing throughout the day. All participants and women’s football fans are encouraged to use the event’s designated hashtags - #WFD and #CONCACAFWFD - to share photos, videos, comments, stories and more in order to further amplify CONCACAF’s women’s football movement.

Source CONCACAF: http://www.concacaf.com/article/member-associations-prepare-for-historic-womens-football-day