Live Your Goals in May - Women's Football

Live Your Goals in May - Women's Football

FIFA.com

With the FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015™ edging ever closer, numerous young girls are eagerly counting down the days until kick-off on 6 June 2015, when they will be able to see their idols in action on the biggest stage of them all. FIFA’s Live Your Goals campaign aims to encourage women and girls to play football and pursue an interest in the game, so that one day they could perhaps follow in the footsteps of Abby Wambach and Co. FIFA.com rounds up the highlights from May, when there were once again several festivals on the calendar.

Canada: Festival inspires young girls
The thrill of anticipation ahead of the Women’s World Cup was heightened through the Legacy Programme, with three Live Your Goals festivals held in Ottawa, Winnipeg and Vancouver. At the events, young girls were able to take part in a variety of activities both on and off the pitch. One of the Legacy Programme’s most important objectives is to inspire more girls to play football and to support the women’s game across the whole country. Almost 200 girls under the age of 12 took part at the festival in Winnipeg, where Canada international Brittany Baxter and former international Melanie Booth, among others, were on hand to offer help and support. The festival was organised by FIFA, the Canadian Soccer Association, the Manitoba Soccer Association and the 2015 Women’s World Cup Local Organising Committee.

“It’s a fantastic event to support football in our province and in the country as a whole,” said Hector Vergara, executive director of the Manitoba Soccer Association. “It is our hope that more players of every age and gender will play the beautiful game.”

Dominican Republic: Dawn of a new era
The maiden LYG festival in Dominican Republic was held on 7 May, with San Cristobal staging the first of three such events planned for this year. Approximately 150 girls from across the whole island state attended and had great fun being taught how to play the game by three coaches. With the help of the Live Your Goals initiative, football’s popularity should increase among the country’s 32 regions.

Further festivals are scheduled for 15 August in Santo Domingo and on 14 November in San Tiago.

Kazakhstan: A day of celebration
The Live Your Goals programme also got off the ground in Kazakhstan in May. Over 400 participants between the ages of six and 12 flocked to the “BIIK” football complex in Shymkent to experience first-hand what the game is all about. The coaching was carried out exclusively by members of the country’s women’s national team and the club BIIK Kazygurt, who showed the girls different exercises both with and without the ball, before doing so again accompanied by music. Everyone involved had a great time at the festival.

Both Seilda Baishakov, vice president of the Football Federation of Kazakhstan (FFK), and Bauyrzhan Abdubaitov, a member of the FKK executive committee, were present at the opening ceremony, with the latter highlighting the importance of the event for the development of the women’s game.

Kazakhstan international Ulbolsyn Zholchiyeva also expressed her delight: “Today is a celebration in women’s football. This festival is an important step in developing and advancing the women’s game in Kazakhstan.”

Further festivals
In addition to the events outlined above, there were also festivals held in Gambia, Congo, Guam, Romania, Moldova, Peru, Estonia, Panama, Republic of Ireland, Curacao and Mexico, where the national team’s coaching staff and players helped out before departing for the World Cup in Canada.