Women’s Football Campaign in Bumtang and Punakha
The Women’s Football Department conducted the first ever women’s football campaign in Bumtang and Punakha district on 29th of October and 5th of November respectively.
Women’s football Campaign is one of the eight developmental programs under the FIFA Women’s Development Program. The main objective of the program is to boost participation among young girls in a fun and engaging way. We also used it as an
opportunity to scout for potential talents to be recruited into our Academy System.
For the event, the girls were invited from four schools from each district, covering the ages from 2009 to 2014. The event, comprised small-sided games divided into age categories (U10, U12, and U14) and ran throughout the entire morning and the participants were provided with refreshments.
Ngawang Yangchen Lhamo of Bumthang shared that it had been a great experience as they had learned a lot and had a lot of fun during the event. According to Norbu Gyelteshen, the Principal of Ugyen Academy, it gave him absolute joy to see the young girls engaged and playing football.
Ms. Pema Choden, the head of the women’s department, expressed her observation that witnessing young girls actively participating in four-hour-long football sessions was truly inspiring. She emphasized that the common misconception suggesting that girls lack interest in football or that there is insufficient participation at the grassroots level is entirely false. According to her, girls are eager to be engaged in such activities, and the campaign underscored the necessity to organize more events of this nature. Ms. Pema Choden further stressed the importance of capturing girls’ interest at an early age and introducing them to the game.
Regrettably, due to exams, the planned extension of the festival to Haa and Samtse had to be abandoned, as Ms. Pema Choden explained. Despite this setback, the campaign has sparked a call for increased efforts in organizing similar festivities to promote girls’ involvement in football and sports in general.
A total of 310 girls (110 in Bumthang and 195 in Punakha) participated in the event during the campaign.
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