adminwhich ended on Sunday in Frankfurt.
Zifa board member and Women’s football boss Mavis Gumbo, and chief executive Jonathan Mashingaidze, returned home yesterday after attending the three-day Symposium, together with 500 delegates from the globe.
The delegates also had the opportunity to watch the Women’s World Cup final match on Sunday between the United States of America and Japan.
Gumbo, who was attending the event for the first time, said it was a perfect opportunity to share ideas and exchanges notes with other associations.
“We would do our discussions in groups with members giving practical examples on how they are doing it at their associations and it was really an eye-opener.
“We touched on what is needed to optimise the integration of girls and women’s football into clubs, schools and communities.
“What to consider and how to go from grassroots level to higher level and the establishment and reinforcement of football competitions at national and regional level giving the women more opportunity.
“We observed that the challenges we face in our associations are more or less the same as the first priority when it comes to soccer is still men.
“Also men are still outnumbering us in women’s football activities and you could see at the workshop that more representatives were men.
“Interestingly, representatives from the Middle East said their communities which have cultural challenges are moving with times and fully embracing women’s football.
“The Fifa president also challenged the delegates that we should be passionate about women’s sport development.
“He gave us an example of Hong Kong ladies association founding president, Veronica Chan, whom he worked with for years in trenches in developing women’s football. He told us that the 88-year-old is still passionate about the girl child and is going strong,” said Gumbo.
The last symposium was held at the 2007 Fifa Women’s World Cup in China and since then women’s football has continued to expand and is a key driver of growth for the sport of football all around the world.
The symposium provided a forum to exchange experiences and information, assess progress made in women’s football and look at ways to empower women and girls in the game.
Chairman of the Committee for Women’s Football and the Fifa Women’s World Cup, Worawi Makudi, said that despite the recent significant growth in the game there was still a lot to more to be done.
“Women’s football in recent years has grown to become the world’s number one participation sport for females.
“It is now time that all parties involved in women’s football increase their support and resources and adapt their structures in order to support the further growth and development of the sport,” said Makudi.
The participants also enjoyed an engaging panel discussion hosted by South African journalist Mark Gleeson concerning competition structure in various nations.
Gumbo said she also used the event to organise friendly matches for the Mighty Warriors with African powerhouses like Egypt.
“I made a lot of contacts and the Egypt chairperson said she has heard a lot about the Zimbabwe national team and wants to play a friendly match against us in October. Qatar and United Arab Emirates representative said are ready to engage us in international matches so that they identify players who can join their league clubs. – Sports Reporter/Fifa.com.
Online Reporter