Over 200 participate in Girls Festival for AFC Women’s Football Day

[March 21, 2022 – Harmon, Guam] Over 200 players, volunteers, and staff participated in Guam Football Association 2022 Girls Football Festival, the main event of Guam’s celebration of AFC Women’s Football Day, at the Guam Football Association National Training Center Sunday afternoon.

“It was very exciting to see all the young players and their families have so much fun taking part in the GFA Girls Football Festival,” said Kimberly Sherman, GFA Women’s Football Officer and overall organizer of the event. “For this year’s celebration of AFC Women’s Football Day during the month of March, we decided to feature the theme, ‘Return to Play’ as many of our young athletes hadn’t played football in over two years due to the COVID19 pandemic. The festival featured activities with volunteers from various youth clubs and players from the Women’s National Program, as well as small-sided games. At the end of the day, we staged a coaches/volunteer appreciation match to play also.

“It was a great day overall and a good experience for all participants. I want to extend my appreciation to all who helped put this event together, including GFA Executives, members of the GFA Women’s Football Committee, GFA staff, coaches and players from the Guam Women’s National Program, and event volunteers,” Sherman added.

The Girls Football Festival was the main event for Guam’s celebration of AFC Women’s Football Day, which also included an exhibition match between the Guam U14 Girls National Team training squad against the St. John’s School Middle School Girls Soccer Team on Mar. 9. The celebration continues Saturday with the opening day of the KIA U15 Girls Event in the Triple J Auto Group Robbie Webber Youth Soccer League with eight teams competing.

In addition to events for players and coaches, GFA also featured female referees in two episodes released this month from its “Respect Referees, Respect the Game” video series produced by Guam Community College intern Curtis Mostales.

Guam is one of 39 Member Associations of the Asian Football Confederation celebrating AFC Women’s Football Day this month, and one of eight that have consistently joined festivities for an eighth-straight year, the AFC Web site states.

“There is no denying that the Asian women’s game has been on the rise and the AFC is steadfast in our ambitions towards maintaining our position as leaders in world football,” said Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, AFC President, in an official communications letter from AFC. “We will leave no stone unturned in our efforts towards assisting our MAs unlock their potential. For the second consecutive year, we will gather in challenging and extraordinary times so I must also emphasize to everyone the need to ensure we observe the highest safety and health standards and protocols across all activities and events.

“I wish all our MAs and all women and girls in Asia a joyous and safe International Women’s Day and a meaningful and enjoyable AFC Women’s Football Day 2022,” the AFC President added.

As part of the celebration, participants in both the exhibition match and the 2022 Girls Football Festival received AFC Women’s Football Day t-shirts.