Women’s leadership in football has come under the spotlight in the Solomon Islands’ Malaita Province with a series of coach training programmes specifically targeted at young women rolling out across the region.
Led by Malaita Province Sports Coordinator Eddie Omokirio, the latest of the coaching courses saw 30 young female students from Garata School in Baegu, North Malaita, given their first opportunity to participate in a coaching course in the male-dominated sport.
Omokirio, the former Solomon Islands beach soccer national team coach and vice-president of the Solomon Islands Football Federation, hopes to see the programme create more opportunities for women and girls in the Solomon Islands’ football community.
“I am here to help communities that would love to introduce girl’s football in the Malaita province,” he said.
“I like to include girls in this particular sport for them to advocate on the rights of women to participate in football in Malaita.”
“Football is for both males and females.”
The programme is part of the Malaita Provincial Government sports division’s commitment to improve coaching ability and give both men and women the opportunity to learn more about the technical aspects of football in order to develop the game in the province.