Recreational Women’s Leagues Begin Spring 2016 Seasons

[April 25, 2016 – Harmon, Guam] – It may have taken some coaxing from co-workers, but Bank of Guam Team Ifit’s Marlene Salas is glad she eventually gave in to play in the first-ever Guam Football Association Women’s Starter League at the GFA National Training Center Sunday.

“I was skeptical at first when my co-workers first asked me to join the team to help fill our roster for the league,” said Salas, Team Ifit’s goalkeeper. “I’m glad though that I decided to try it out. In my first-ever game, it was definitely intense and tiring, but a really good experience. It was exciting playing on defense and stopping the ball, especially the shots from close range.

“I would highly recommend to anyone thinking of playing sports to try out soccer,” the Santa Rita resident added.

Salas, like many players in the Starter League assembled by GFA, is new to the sport and has no previous experience playing. The new league was created to fill a demand for opportunities for female players at the novice level, following the success of the Docomo Pacific Soccer Moms League. The Soccer Moms League, now in its sixth season, grew from eight teams in 2013 to 17 teams in 2015. This season, 13 teams comprise the Soccer Moms League and the new Starter League features 10 teams in its first season. Over 300 registered women are now playing in the two recreational leagues, and the number is set to grow after the GFA Women’s Intermediate 7-A-Side Recreational League kicks off later in the year. The creation of the various recreational women’s leagues in Guam over the years was made possible in great part through financial grants from FIFA for women’s football development.

The teams in both the Soccer Moms League and Starter League participated in a Parade of Colors and Opening Ceremony with welcome remarks by GFA General Secretary Tino San Gil. Before the matches, teams welcomed Spider-Man, who made a presentation about anti-bullying to the players and their families in attendance.

The Starter League is played in a 5-A-Side format in the newly renovated futsal courts at GFA, completed in December 2015 through the AFC Mini-Pitch Program. In the first-ever match of the league, BOG Team Ifit faced Team FHP. Other matches played on opening day of the new league were Tsunami Thunder against Team TakeCare, CrushHers against the Supersonics, Tsunami Sirens against Queen Cobras, and Cars Plus Jeep against Lady Latiyas.

The Soccer Moms League Spring 2016 season also kicked off Sunday and featured six matches. The DocoMoms opened the Spring 2016 season with a match against the FedEx Sirenas. In other matches, Lady Bombers played against Femme Fatale, Tsunami Waves took on the Warriors, Islanders played against Wings Momdeshiko, Dededo Disasters faced Bank of Guam Team Ifit Moms, and the Renegades played against Latte Strong. The Quality Distributors Momsters received a bye on opening day. Soccer Moms League matches are played on UA-2 and UA-3, the lower turf pitch and mini turf pitch, respectively, at the GFA National Training Center.