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A series of exciting and fun-filled activities took place this March as Asia came together to commemorate the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women’s Football Day 2024.
A record-equalling 41 Member Associations (MAs) joined the celebrations on the milestone 10th edition of the AFC Women’s Football Day, which aims to promote and honour the progress of women’s football across the Continent.
Australia
The next generation of Matildas could not have asked for a better form of inspiration than Julie Dolan – the Matildas Cap #1, who became Australia’s inaugural captain at just 18 when she led the team out against New Zealand in 1979.
A pioneering figure in Australian football, Dolan made a surprise guest appearance at the CommBank Junior Matildas training camp in Canberra on March 8 as they geared up for the AFC U17 Asian Cup™ Indonesia 2024. This was part of Football Australia’s efforts to connect the players with the legacy and heritage of their senior counterparts, while also allowing them to gain insights, tips and advice from someone who has been through it all.
A day earlier, 22 female staff of Football Australia attended a Women in Football Administration event to build deeper connections and gain valuable leadership insights. Through engaging panel discussions that featured Mel Mallam, General Counsel (Legal Department), Brooke Reid, Senior Partnerships Account Manager (Commercial Department) and Kenya Fahey, National Program Coordinator (Participation/Community Department), attendees across different departments were able to come together to network and also celebrate women in football.
Former Matilda Sarah Walsh, Head of Women’s Football at Football Australia, also shared her journey in the sport as part of the AFC’s latest It’s My Game episode, including the historic success of the Matildas at the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023.
Bangladesh
Over 250 young girls took part in a special afternoon at the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) House in Dhaka on March 8, where they were divided into different groups to participate in small-sided games.
Hailing from various schools and academies across the Dhaka division, participants first underwent a series of training exercises at the artificial turf pitch before playing the games.
BFF General Secretary Emran Hossain Tushar and AFC Executive Committee and BFF Council Member, Chairperson (Women’s Wing) Mahfuza Akhter Kiron both gave motivational speeches, as the day concluded with a certificate presentation ceremony that involved the duo, along with BFF Executive Committee Member Md. Nurul Islam.
Brunei Darussalam
For the first time ever, the Football Association of Brunei Darussalam (FABD) hosted its Women’s Football Festival Day at the FABD Turf Field. Organised by its Women’s Football Unit on March 10, an overwhelming response resulted in over 120 participants comprising female administrative staff, medics, coaches, referees, teachers, and U12 and U17 players.
The day began in the early morning with warm-ups exercises before the participants splits into three groups: U12, U17 and seniors. Fun games, technical skill sessions and 3-v-3 small-sided games were on the menu for the U12s, while the U17s formed four teams to engage in five-a-side matches in a round-robin format. The seniors, comprising teachers and various members of the women’s football community, also contested a round-robin format tournament that featured seven-a-side games.
The FABD’s stated objectives were to increase the number of female players, to foster the interest of young players in the sport, allow more access for the female players to play football as well as to socialise, have fun and form a healthy lifestyle.
Guam
Three key events were lined up by the Guam Football Association (GFA) at the GFA National Training Centre (NTC) as part of their celebrations and the first of these, the 15th Annual Sugar and Spice Middle School Girls Festival, took place on March 11.
St. John’s School Knights, the reigning Independent Interscholastic Athletic Association of Guam middle school champions, added a second title of the season by defending their Festival crown after defeating the Astumbo Middle School Dragons 1-0 at the annual event, which was supported by the Japan Football Association.
That was followed by the Challenge Cup Girls High School Preseason Tournament on March 17 at the GFA NTC, which was contested by eight teams and won by the John F. Kennedy High School Islanders.
The third event – a new addition this year – saw five local youth clubs participate in the Tokyo Football Association (FA) Friendlies tournament on March 24, which featured the Tokyo FA U16 Girls team at the GFA NTC. The visitors emerged as champions in the inaugural edition, which allowed the local players to experience sparring against foreign opponents. All medals and awards were presented by GFA Women’s Committee chairperson and Executive Committee member Kelley Barnhart and fellow GFA Executive Committee member Gian Tenorio as the GFA marked its 10th consecutive AFC Women’s Football Day participation.
Iran
The Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran (FFIRI) celebrated AFC Women’s Football Day 2024 at its National Football Centre, which involved their women’s futsal and Under-15 women’s national teams.
Refereeing and medical workshops were conducted at booths as well during the event, which was attended by FFIRI President Mehdi Taj, General Secretary Hedayat Mombeni and IR Iran icon of women’s football Maryam Irandoost, among others.
Jordan
As part of its drive to inspire more girls to play football, the Jordan Football Association (JFA) put on a festival on March 15 at the Polo Stadium in Amman that featured 70 participants.
Comprising 70 girls from the U17 women’s national team, U20 women’s national team and charitable organisations, the three-hour event was overseen by technical staff from both national teams and saw the participants divided into six groups who played 10-minute small-sided games.
In an environment that aimed to make everyone feel welcome and encourage a diverse range of participants, the girls displayed incredible energy and passion for the sport throughout the festival.
Kyrgyz Republic
All eight regions in the Kyrgyz Republic were involved in the AFC Women’s Football Day 2024 as the Kyrgyz Football Union (KFU) organised tournaments across the country.
Between March 1 to 15, a total of 732 girls aged between nine and 12 formed 45 teams to participate in small-sided matches that were played out in the capital city Bishkek as well as the Osh, Batken, Jalal-Abad, Talas, Chui, Naryn and Issyk-Kul regions.
At each of the eight tournaments, the girls received cups, medals, diplomas as well as prizes for three categories: Best Goalkeeper, Best Player and Top Goalscorer.
