Some news from Bermuda, a country that nearly reached the 2018 Concacaf women's finals, but doesn't have a women's senior soccer league. The league that existed before seems to be discontinued. In 2013, Bermuda won the Island Games title in women's and men's football, the teams' first honours. Kennesha Nanette is a defender from Bermuda who is studying and playing football at Cardiff Met University in Wales: https://www.tribalfootball.com/arti...ermuda-international-kennesha-nanette-4297884 (Archive) In 2019 there have been moves to help women working in football - a BFA symposium, and a Fifa event this week with the federation's Charysse Bean - but for players especially, this progress is incomplete.
Menzies quits as the coach of Jamaica’s women: http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/...-menzies-quits-reggae-girlz-after-jff-dispute
Sad, since the team had reached unprecedented highs under him. One can somehow understand the federation of such a small state being underfunded, but it looks like they were quite bad at communication also and appeared uninterested.
Some more background from the assistant coach, basically questioning whether the federation is acting in good faith. None of the coaches salaries due to them in August have been paid. http://jamaicaobserver.com/sports/d...-in-jff-s-approach-to-women-s-football_181434
Time for Classic football (Old Games) They're "the Games" in two ways – the Central American and Caribbean Games were a cool event last time, so I'd like to go back and see the first time when women's soccer joined the world's oldest regional Games. C American/Caribbean Games 2010Women's soccer was a new addition, but the hosting had problems. Concacaf withdrew its support because Puerto Rico didn't meet the "minimum standards required to conduct an international tournament", Concacaf being experts on minimum standards. Opening ceremony in Puerto Rico (Eljohnson15, cc-by-sa) Once it started, the round-robin tournament was a success: (Sorry about quoting you a decade late!) And this is a rare news report from the final day of medals... Guatemala 4-1 Nicaragua - (Maria Amanda Monterroso 36’; Rocio Sosa 41’, 90’; Wendy Pineda 72’ - Maribel Chávez golazo 75’) Haiti 1-0 Trinidad/Tobago - (Nadia Valentin 38') Venezuela 1-1 Puerto Rico - (Lisbeth Bandrés 45' - Jaqueline Cruz 69') ⬤ Guatemala won 3rd place, T&T won silver, and Venezuela gold. Central American Games 2013Women's football made its return to the Juegos Centroamericanos after 12 years: Costa Rica opened as the hosts, with a group matchup v El Salvador. And the host nation were going for gold against the Alexis Zepeda-coached team Nicaragua, who had reached their first ever final. Final: Costa Rica v Nicaragua full match In San José, 15 March 2013 (MAY CONTAIN SWIMMING)
Thanks for the info @SiberianThunderT. Did you hear about the match that Puerto Rico Sol was planning? Caribbean & Central American Women's Champions Cup... Final... Er (from the Facebook page) It's a grand name, like it's a tournament, but does it stand up to scrutiny? The Sol are a good team by all accounts, but Cibao are in the Dominican Republic where the first women's league has just started (they're 2nd). Dominican Republic lights up its first women's soccer league, Dec 2019, acento.com.do (Archive) "They (FIFA) are clear that the maximum that can be reached in the men's has already been reached and they are giving a lot of importance to women's football," Bauger explained.(Reached the maximum what? Wisdom level?) I wonder if Puerto Rico Sol couldn't get many teams to come. An announcement in May 2019 named 3 other clubs they wanted to play. In any case, sadly it'll probably go on the pile of 2020's cancelled events. As well as football clubs, they invited J-LO to attend, Jenny from the block! So maybe it would've been a huge event after all, unless she didn't show up.
St Kitts and Nevis: Surprise qualifiers to the Concacaf Olympic tournament, SKN's win didn't come out of nowhere: the women's league was established in 2011 as the FA upped its investment: The rise of women’s football in SKN (2014) sknvibes.com/news/newsdetails.cfm/87672 (Archive) In the 2019 league final, a 2-leg game, Newtown made it 7 championships in a row. Newtown United 2 - 0 Cayon Rockets Zonia Marshall 48', Kshanta Mills 68' Highlights facebook.com/watch/?v=2573130176076984 Match report: http://thelabourspokesman.com/newtown-women-win-7th-straight-elvis-star-browne-title/ (Archive) Phoenetia Browne was the national team's hat-trick hero when the Sugar Girlz won 4-1 over Trinidad and Tobago. T&T 1 - 4 SKN - youtu.be/JSdxqKChQE0 https://sknfa.com/sugar-girlz-tops-group-a-in-olympic-qualifying-move-on-to-next-round/ (Archive)
Bahamas: A world-first in Grand Bahama – a Borussia Dortmund women's football team!... but not "the" team. (It's a kind of annual local teams' Champions League with the same kits.) Good idea tho...
MORE Classic old stuff From another millennium! UNCAF Copa Femenina de Naciones 1999A unique tournament in Central American football, this was held in Guatemala City with four national teams. The Guatemalan women's league had begun 2 years earlier – the other finalist, Costa Rica, had a league throughout the '90s, and women's football has a long history there. The final was a rare result too: a Guatemala victory over Costa Rica, with a goal by Magnolia Pérez (goalie's reaction is priceless), and an incredible header by Carmen Villedas for 2-0 and the trophy. Final highlights are in this video with Guatemala's Maria Fernanda Rossell: www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXB0KTUq-lI&t=7m35s The other two participants were Nicaragua and Honduras. - Tournament 1999 preview (Archive) - Final match report, La Nación (Archive) - Tournament stats & info (Archive) The Copa Femenina was maybe intended to copy the men's Copa Centroamericana, but this women's event was seemingly not repeated. Of course, the teams continue to meet in other tournaments. A game from 1999 is online in full, the finalists' earlier goalfest in the group. Guatemala: 1 Ana Lucia Colina; 5 Claudia Zea, 6 Erika Acevedo, 2 Magaly Solares, 8 Claudia Gálvez, 19 Magnolia Pérez, 7 Diana Burmester, 13 María Fernanda Rossell, 4 Silvia Lara, 11 Carmen Villeda, 9 Ingrid Simón. Coach: Antonio García. Costa Rica: 20 Marie Clare Herra; 3 Gabriela Trujillo, 5 Virginia Rodríguez, 17 Jaqueline Alvarez, 11 Jessica Murcia, 6 Wendy Barrantes, 7 Emilia Solano; 4 Xinia Contreras, 13 Emilia Carmona, 10 Ericka Castro, 14 Heilyn Barrantes. Coach: Didier Castro.
On the plus side, Marie Clare Herra has accurately depicted the correct reaction when BigSoccer has a discussion on politics / the economy / soccer
Nicaragua football under coronavirus: Life as normal?! (Peter Fitzgerald/Joelf, cc-by-sa) The women's Campeonato Nacional goes back to 1996: "For example, the first title in history was obtained by the Universidad Centroamericana (UCA) in 1996, and they took their role very seriously, as they maintained hegemony for 4 seasons, being the first national tetra-campeonas [4-time champions]." THE HISTORICAL CHAMPIONS OF FEMALE FOOTBALL IN NICARAGUA - nicafutbfemenino.wordpress.com, Autotranslated / Archive Most successful of all are UNAN-Managua, university team in the capital. Nicaragua has 2 women's divisions. There isn't a good list of recent champions, but in the 2019/20 apertura final in January, Águilas de León handed UNAN their first defeat in 2 years. (-LaPrensa) Nicaragua in the CA Games final 2013 (J Araya Monge, cc-by) Under Covid-19, Nicaragua is the only country in the Americas to continue playing soccer (and the No.1 sport, baseball), because the country's illness rate was low. This included the women's clausura, which started in March like the SheBelieves Cup - but after matchday 1 in Nicaragua it seemed to stop. The women's league has less reliance on revenue than the men's clubs, which voted 9 to 1 to continue playing. Some players preferred to leave the country - Nikita Solodchenko (Russia) and Sebastián Barquero (Costa Rica). Other info on the Women's Championship: https://nicafutbfemenino.wordpress.com/ https://www.laprensa.com.ni/tag/futbol-femenino https://www.facebook.com/pg/NicaFutbFemenino/posts/
Some high-scorers in Nicaragua were Samaría Gómez (of El Salvador) with 17 goals in the recent Apertura for Real Estelí – and Ninoska Solís got 14 including the final match-winning goal for Águilas. The top-scorer was Sheyla Flores, 22 goals for UNAN, good but not close to her 2014/15 season when she scored 76 times. But midway through 2019/20, she left Nicaragua to sign for Costa Rica's champions Deportivo Saprissa. Flores had already played abroad in El Salvador at Alianza, and she was familiar with Saprissa from past meetings at the Central American Interclubes tournament. "Saprissa signs Nicaraguan captain who can play forward and defense" - mariosegura.com
Bad news coming from Haiti, sexual abuse reported against the federation president. You can also watch the video if you understand French
Suspended: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-52796527 Fifa also stands accused of failing to help : 'Players usually move to the centre when they are teenagers, often rescued from a life on the streets ... several witnesses have alleged to the Guardian the facility is in a dilapidated state after years of neglect despite having received up to $6m from Fifa’s “Forward” programme since 2016. “The last time I set foot there, I wanted to vomit,” said a coach who used to work there regularly. “It is despicable. Ten kids sleep in every room, there are no sheets, no clean toilets. It’s unimaginable. ... Fifa’s inspectors came, we thought they were going to say something, but it didn’t happen. It’s impossible. How can they say nothing?”' - (Guardian, 30 Apr 2020) As Jean-Bart is a powerful figure, some in Haiti are defending him, some demand an inquiry. And the security officer at the FA centre is, er 'During this brief exchange, the old man kindly dodged a question about the shattering revelations of The Guardian newspaper. "Excuse me. I have to run because I can’t stay in the sun too long," he said before disappearing under the bushes that adorn the entrance to the center.' - (Haitian Times / Le Nouvelliste)
Trinidad & Tobago: a look back at 2015, when a 2nd women's tournament was played in parallel: The Week in Women's Football: Controversy in Trinidad & Tobago over twin comps - https://www.tribalfootball.com/arti...sy-in-trinidad-tobago-over-twin-comps-4099840 (Archive) The usual league in T&T is called the "WOLF". Panama's Marta Cox vs Trinidad's Tasha St Louis - (Jamie Smed, cc-by)
- Panama and Costa Rica will host their own World Cup, the women's U20 edition, now delayed from 2020 by coronavirus. The Panamanian organizing committee chief says the extra time will help - also dismisses the idea of empty-stadium games in Panama City - in a Eurosport/EFE article (English Autotranslated)
Precious sponsorship for UNCAF, who scheduled tournaments in June and September, but external factors could cancel them out. The sponsor Bayer-Dorival was also at the U20 Concacaf qualifiers in Dominican Republic and will bankroll the U17 WCQs in Mexico, which are postponed. "Support for women's football in Central America / Respaldo al fútbol femenino de Centroamérica" (Archive) Central American Games 2001So, women's football made its games debut at Guatemala City - two years after Guatemala became the Central American women's champions and Costa Rica won Panam Games bronze in Canada. Ericka Castro & Karina López, 1999 The late 2001 tournament was the debut of Belize in women's internationals (ahead of Panama who made their entry the next year). In a 1-1 semifinal, the hosts Guatemala fell on penalties and Honduras reached the gold medal match - maybe their only women's final ever? The Hondurans led 1-0 when Berta Hernández scored in 45 seconds, but Costa Rica recovered. Striker Jacqueline Álvarez, early in a long career, scored her 6th goal, won the golden boot, and Didier 'Zorro' Castro's CRC team won 4-1 and took their first gold medal. It was the last chance anyone got, as the women's event didn't return for twelve years. More on this rare tournament was reported at the time by La Nacion. (Pre-tournament / CRC v Nicaragua / SF pt.1 / pt.2 / Final report / RSSSF details) 2001 champion: María Madriz
In Costa Rica, their senior national coach was amazingly young, 28, when she was appointed. She had already been working with the national team for years. Profile and interview, including the 2015 World Cup and the team's 2019 Pan Am Games medal: Amelia Valverde, la mujer que puso en alto el fútbol femenino costarricense / Amelia Valverde, the woman who raised Costa Rican women's football - (FeminaFutbol.com, Archive)
Puerto Rico: The 2019/20 season is cancelled without a champion - five months after play was suspended in March. The Liga PR Femenina had started its 2nd season in October 2019. After their first ten games, Puerto Rico Sol were in the lead, Jasmin Casarez scoring 20 goals. There was a live video of their match against 2nd-placed club Bayamón, who had the league's top scorer overall, Karina Socarras (32) Puerto Rico Sol FC (red) v Bayamón FC, 9 Nov 2019 www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmhNW3QYJRs&t=9m - Liga positions / 2019 results - Season cancellation news (FPF)
Ongoing investigations by FIFA lead to 3-month bans against Haitian FA staff, in regards to the scandal of sexually abused players in a youth center run by that FA. The alleged perpetrator, Haiti's FA president, has received his second 3-month ban while investigations continue. Different words for the same event, in FIFA and AP press: FIFA: Independent Ethics Committee extends provisional ban on Yves Jean-Bart and sanctions other Haitian football officials AP: FIFA suspends 2 more Haiti officials in sexual abuse inquiry Details of the matter, reported by English press, are despicable and saddening (see @shlj 's post from May). As always, FIFA can only ban federation staff from FAs. Real punishment (prison, restitution to victims, etc) can be achieved only if national law enforcement receives a complaint from victims. Although, even law enforcement can bow down to FAs. Case in point: Colombia's attorney general investigations into sexual misconduct by women's youth ex-coach concluded with a monetary sanction against the perpetrator... ...just in time for Colombia's WWC bid to be voted by the FIFA Council. Guess how FIFA's lawyers have shielded their client from future lawsuits by sexual abuse victims, who were attacked in plain oversight of FIFA inspectors.
Costa Rica: 2019 was the championship's 29th year. Saprissa were defending the title after winning the 2018 final v Moravia. The same two clubs contested the first final of 2019: Moravia had been undefeated in the Apertura, but Saprissa won it on penalties, 6-5. Alajuelense won the Clausura, and then the national final in December 2019, to take their first title. The Alajuela team (merged briefly with club Codea) gave their captain Shirley Cruz the first professional contract in that year. They've also had the league's top-scorer for two seasons, Priscila Chinchilla, who added a final goal here: Final Nacional Alajuelense 1 - 0 Saprissa - (Agg: 2-1) (More info: Spanish Wikipedia / RSSSF) The Costa Rican league resumed in June for the 2020 season.
Panama's champions in December 2019 were Universitario for the third time in the Liga, LFF, on the split-season format. They won the Apertura final, 3-2, against Tauro FC. https://www.fepafut.com/noticias/3823/cd-universitario-nuevamente-campeon-de-la-lff (Archive) The 2019/20 'Clausura' was effectively cancelled with the pandemic in 2020, but Fepafut, the federation of Panama, says a 2020 season is now scheduled for November and December: "The 2020 LFF Tournament will be dedicated to all the heroes who have been fighting on the front lines in the face of the COVID-19 Pandemic, as well as all the people who have sadly lost their lives due to this disease."
Honduras' talking-point was that it's the only Central American country with no national women's league – the best performances of clubs in the UNCAF women's continental championship were two semi-finalists. Beneath the surface, there's a surprising abundance of women's leagues, at least a dozen of them, in the country of 10 million people. The one in the northwest is the Liga Femenina SPS (San Pedro Sula) playing at some sizeable stadiums. (Burmesedays, cc-by-sa) In the capital area Tegucigalpa, it's the Liga Femenina Alfredo Hawit Banegas, whose champion club Olimpia beat the holders, university side UNAH, and won Olimpia's 3rd title: Olimpia 3 - 0 Pumas UNAH, June 2019 www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Wi0OfsaIqU The leagues had to put the pressure on, when Fifa gave each country US$500,000 for women's football development. The head of the FA talked openly of wanting to re-route money to men's divisions and was denounced as "INCOMPETENTE" (incompetent). Now, as 2020 ends it looks like the cash will be used as intended, maybe even for a league, but the federation only seems to get things done slowly...