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By Neto Baptiste
Technical Director for football and former national player, Sowerby Gomes, is heartened by the number of ‘young players’ that participated in the various instalments of the Antigua and Barbuda Football Association’s (ABFA) Female Knockout Classic held over the last three Sundays.
Speaking on the Good Morning Jojo Sports Show, Gomes said he was surprised by the interest shown by the younger players while also commending the senior players for supporting and guiding the new talents.
“What is on the horizon is a group of young players that are coming through. What I was looking for as it relates to the old stalwarts, and I say old stalwarts in reference to players who have been playing at the national level for quite some time, and they are the ones who would hold different female club teams together. I was thinking I would have seen more of that but I am not and what we are seeing now is an emergence of a lot of young players that are filling the spots of the rendsetters, of the Cutting Edge, of the Lady Masters and Wadadli United,” he said.
On Sunday, Wadadli United FC captured their second straight knockout title following a 3-0 triumph over Cutting Edge in the final held at the FA’s Technical Center.
Six teams were slated to take part in the knockout competitions but that number was reduced to five when veteran team, Ottos Tigress, pulled out of all three matches.
Gomes said the FA was given the commitment that the team will compete in the league which is slated to start in August.
“The organisers [for Ottos Tigress] did reach out to us and he told us clearly that with no uncertain terms, they will be participating in the league so they don’t want us to rule them out at all; so they are putting all of the necessary things in place to make sure they compete in the league. I really can’t speak to what’s happening on the ground but one of the issues was players not getting the necessary time off from work because most of them were working, but he said that come the start of the league in August, his team will be ready,” he said.
Trendsetters won the opening round of the knockout competitions some three weeks ago. The FA’s female league is slated to kick off on August 17.
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