By Faisal Al-Rashidi
KUWAIT, March 6 (KUNA) -- Some 19 years have passed since the formation of the Kuwaiti women football team and despite this progressive fact, the squad's various participations in regional and international competitions have been marred by defeats and disappointments due to the lack of preparation and planning.
Though the women football team was established in 1989, athletes and managing staff alike felt it was time to usher a renaissance that will enable to put women footballers on the winner's podium.
Speaking to KUNA, Zainab Al-Khabaaz and Hanan Al-Rashed said that they were glad to represent their country in global tournaments, affirming that they took this with a sense of pride and duty.
The two players expressed their willingness to give more to the team, revealing that the solution to their problems lies in giving leave for players from work and study to pursue football perfection in addition to more training camps and international participation.
Despite the presence women football being recent in Kuwait, the athletes are willing to show what they are made of, said head of the women football committee of Kuwait Football Association (KFA) Nahed Al-Fahad.
The official said that in order to develop the sport, the committee "would need to work with the ministry of education to scout for talents at a very young age, establishing tournaments, and developing football staff and coaches abilities." Progress for the national women's team will only be made once there was a solemn effort to bring women football to the national consciousness, Al-Fahad affirmed.
Picking on the last portion of Al-Fahad's statement, deputy head of the committee Anwar Al-Nouri stressed it was important to inform the public on the necessity of women sport especially in football.
Pushing and supporting women football will surely lead to the success of plans for future development, she affirmed.
Meanwhile, chairperson of the women's sports committee and member of the board Kuwait Olympic Committee Fatma Hayat said that the committee had hired international experts to look into developing Kuwaiti women football.
While scouting for young talents is necessary, establishing a senior team of coaches with experience would also be a priority, said the official who indicated that workshops and more football matches would lead to the development of the sport in Kuwait.
Though it may seem that the road is long for Kuwaiti women to achieve excellence in the field of football, hopefully one day, the captains of Kuwait's women football will carry regional and international trophies and championships. (end) fs.gta