By Dean “The Sportsman” Greenaway
BVI U14 Girls team following Tuesday’s practice
From Friday to Sunday, a BVI U14 Girls Football team of 17 players, will test themselves in a friendly tournament, when they face Anguilla, Dominica and St. Kitts and Nevis at the Raymone E. Guishard Technical Center in Anguilla, in preparation for the Caribbean Football Union Challenge Series in Trinidad and Tobago, August 15-22.
Women’s Development Director, Fitzgerald Carter said that while the team is U-14, they have asked for some 15 players to be included as several players under consideration are on vacation and they wanted to ensure that they had enough players to field a squad.
“We have applied to play in the Caribbean Football Union Challenge Series for Girls in Trinidad and we want to go there and be competitive, so we’re preparing for that,” he said. “We just want to give the girls some international friendlies on an international stage so that they will get some experience and then we can actually transfer that experience into the actual competition in August.”
Regarding their progress, Carter, who was hired in February, said that the girls have been open to learning new things, they are very receptive and have also challenged themselves to grow.
“It’s no pressure. They’re here to learn, they’re here to grow, they’re here to develop, but just a matter of a little more focusing and concentration,” he said. “But they’re doing well so far.”
In a practice game on Sunday against some senior women, Carter said that it went well and it was also their first opportunity to actually play 11 v 11, when they moved from 7 v 7 in the league. “They’re getting the experience. They’re learning their roles and responsibilities,” he noted. “They’re now on a normal size pitch with a normal size goal, just a reduced (playing) time frame. They’re actually getting adapted to the size of the pitch, knowing the distances, attacking and defending in transition. There’s a long way to go, but the process has started.”
During that game, Carter said that he saw a commitment from the players, they had an opportunity to learn and to get some experience. “I saw them being able to defend one vs one, combine with each other, so they’re growing in relationship with each other, communication is improving and they’re starting to play, which is very good,” he said. “They’re starting to keep the ball and not losing it, they’re keeping shape, moving and sliding, so they are taking in some of the things they’re being taught.”
In the area of growth, Carter said that the biggest issue was unlearning to relearn some things, as they had been doing things a particular way for a long while, then he came and asked them to try it a different way.
“At first, there was a little resistance to that, but I had to convince them that I’m on their team—team BVI. Once they recognized that we are working together as a unit, that helped the process a lot,” he pointed out. “The players have grown. They’re working more on getting the ball under control. They’re coming together and taking on the new information, but at the end of the day, it’s an incremental stage. Progress for me, is seeing the girls out there representing the BVI and to grow, learn and to have a good showing of themselves, build confidence, and then take that into the actual competition in Trinidad and Tobago.”
The weekend games, he said, is for them to get playing time, play the positions, the roles and responsibilities that have been discussed and see how best they can improve on them. He added that it’s okay to make mistakes. Carter said while he wants them to compete, winning is not the number one priority, but for them to see what it will be like in the CFU Challenge Series.
“This is a rehearsal,” he noted. “It’s okay to make errors—this is where the actual hard work is going to be—and then transfer that into the actual competition in August.”
