Africa-Press – Namibia. FORMER Namibia Football Association executive member and pioneer of women’s football Julien Garises says the Football Galz Centre in Windhoek is not serving its intended purpose.
FORMER Namibia Football Association executive member and pioneer of women’s football Julien Garises says the Football Galz Centre in Windhoek is not serving its intended purpose.
In the interview with Desert Radio recently, Garises said the objective of the facility was similar to that of a high performance centre, where it was supposed to house the country’s top players selected from the regions.
“It was meant to be like the South African high performance centre, where we could enrol the top players and take them through the ropes while attending school and playing football in the women’s league,” Garises said.
“The NFA Galz Centre has now become an accommodation block for national teams. We would like to see the centre up and running. It is the key for women’s football and used to have players competing in the league with in-house coaches assisting the players,” she said.
“Players are not seen at the centre, we must go back and ensure the centre is used for the intended purpose.”
Garises called on the leadership to reconsider why the centre was established.
There is a need to have women’s football tournaments regularly taking place countrywide to adequately assist the national team setup.
The lack of an active domestic football platform for women in the country greatly hampered the Brave Gladiators at the just concluded Cosafa Women’s Championship, Garises said, adding that sustained competitive football is needed for the players to keep up with their international rivals.
Such a setup would enable the country to start exporting players to bigger leagues and reduce the heavy work load on Zenatha Coleman.
The Turkey-based star is Namibia’s only foreign-based player competing at an elite level.
“We need young players at the age of 18 years. The beauty of football is that these girls can get opportunities and eventually bursaries after completing their secondary school or get signed up by foreign clubs,” said Garises.
“We seriously need to play our league. When you look at other countries, most of them have their domestic football leagues up and running. South Africa featured players from their high performance centre and local leagues, while Zambia also have a running league and players signed up in either the United States, Spain or Portugal,” Garises observed.
“In Namibia, we need to start playing football in earnest. We must start preparing for future competitions only if we get our priorities in place.”
She hopes that one or two players from the Brave Gladiators might have attracted the attention of scouts in South Africa with their performances at Cosafa.
“The Cosafa Women’s Cup is without a doubt the entry level for the girls for international exposure. We certainly need international friendly matches, although funding is a stumbling block,” she said.
In the interview with Desert Radio recently, Garises said the objective of the facility was similar to that of a high performance centre, where it was supposed to house the country’s top players selected from the regions.
“It was meant to be like the South African high performance centre, where we could enrol the top players and take them through the ropes while attending school and playing football in the women’s league,” Garises said.
“The NFA Galz Centre has now become an accommodation block for national teams. We would like to see the centre up and running. It is the key for women’s football and used to have players competing in the league with in-house coaches assisting the players,” she said.
“Players are not seen at the centre, we must go back and ensure the centre is used for the intended purpose.”
Garises called on the leadership to reconsider why the centre was established.
There is a need to have women’s football tournaments regularly taking place countrywide to adequately assist the national team setup.
The lack of an active domestic football platform for women in the country greatly hampered the Brave Gladiators at the just concluded Cosafa Women’s Championship, Garises said, adding that sustained competitive football is needed for the players to keep up with their international rivals.
Such a setup would enable the country to start exporting players to bigger leagues and reduce the heavy work load on Zenatha Coleman.
The Turkey-based star is Namibia’s only foreign-based player competing at an elite level.
“We need young players at the age of 18 years. The beauty of football is that these girls can get opportunities and eventually bursaries after completing their secondary school or get signed up by foreign clubs,” said Garises.
“We seriously need to play our league. When you look at other countries, most of them have their domestic football leagues up and running. South Africa featured players from their high performance centre and local leagues, while Zambia also have a running league and players signed up in either the United States, Spain or Portugal,” Garises observed.
“In Namibia, we need to start playing football in earnest. We must start preparing for future competitions only if we get our priorities in place.”
She hopes that one or two players from the Brave Gladiators might have attracted the attention of scouts in South Africa with their performances at Cosafa.
“The Cosafa Women’s Cup is without a doubt the entry level for the girls for international exposure. We certainly need international friendly matches, although funding is a stumbling block,” she said.
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