A week long training for 30 aspiring female referees organized by The Gambia Football Federation has kicked off at the National Technical Training Center on Wednesday.
During the training, participants will undergo basic training on the laws of the game and the basic skills of referees.
Speaking at the opening ceremony on behalf of the GFF President, Lamin Kaba Bajo, Executive Committee Member, Alagie Faye, said the training program is meant amongst others to encourage and strengthen the participation of women in football. “The president has always been very particular about the development of women’s football and this is another step in the right direction,” he said.
Deputy Lead Instructor and Referees Committee member, John Frank Mendy, said the training is timely. “We have few female FIFA referees currently with the GFF, and so, more efforts need to be done to ensure that we have more female referees to officiate female league matches,” he said.
Mendy thanked the Federation with the support of the Coordinator of the Gambia-German Women’s Football Project, Monika Staab, for scouting and considering such training. He said with the quality of referee’s instructors and coaches abound in the country, participants will be “molded” to represent the Gambia as expected.
Gambia-German Women’s Football Project Coordinator Monika Staab also expressed delight and satisfaction about the football leadership’s fulfillment of what has been a key agenda for the GFF. “Women’s football in the Gambia is now taking a positive trend with high pace,” she noted.
Key amongst the areas are laws of the game (1-5), qualities of refereeing and some physical practices.
Participants are drawn from the Gambia College, University of the Gambia, among other institutions. The training will end on September 22nd with a presentation of certificates to participants.
