By Azmat Haroon
Doha: An increasing number of Qatari girls want to take up football as a sport but a major challenge lying ahead of them is the lack of support from their parents.
Qatar’s women football squad currently has some 50 girls in training, 30 of whom were selected over the last two weeks for the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Under-14 Girls Regional Championship, which takes off tomorrow at the Al Arabi Sports Club.
This figure could have been larger had it not been for the discouragement of Qatari parents, according to Monica Stabb, the national women’s football coach.
“Over the past two weeks, we went to all the local schools for selection of girls. We had a lot of talented girls but unfortunately, many parents did not allow their girls to play the game,” Stabb told reporters at a press conference during the launch of the AFC U-14 Regional Championship here yesterday.
The former German football manager has won four German championships and five German cups, in addition to the 2002 Union of European Football Association (UEFA) Cup as head coach of FFC Frankfurt.
Stabb, the UEFA Pro-License coach, noted that Qatar is the only country in the region that plays proper women’s league matches every week.
The Qatar Women’s League (QWL) comprises seven teams, including Lekhwiya, Al Kharaitiyat, Al Arabi, Qatar Sports Club, Al Rayyan, Al Khor and Al Sadd.
The league holds matches every Tuesday and Wednesday. The clubs are required to have 50 percent of Qatari players.
She pointed out that during the selection process many girls were in tears because their mother or father did not allow them to play.
“It’s sad because I feel we take away something from the girls. Football gives you motivation. It can change you as a person,” Stabb, who joined FIFA as an adviser for women’s football in 2006, said.
Despite the labeling of football as a sport too ‘rough’ for girls, some 30 million of women are playing it all over the world.
“Some people used to complain that you’re not covered when playing football but nowadays girls cover themselves and still play the game,” Stabb argued.
She plans to start the U-12 and U-14 matches at the club level to give girls as well as their parents the feel of the sport at an early stage.
“We want to start with young girls. They can play in a league among themselves. This is my idea, I don’t know if we’ll be able to do it next year,” she said, adding that initially the league can be with eight players.
Speaking about the strength of Qatar’s national team, Stabb said that the team is very young at this stage.
“The (Qatar) national team was formed in 2009, which means they’re a very young squad compared to men. There are some 160 years of football and we only have four years of experience,” Stabb explained.
“I’m looking at a five to seven years program where the Under 17 team will be in a position to compete in the AFC championship. I think it’s a good target,” she added.
The national team will attend training camps this summer in Germany, followed by a tournament which will be played in Geneva, Switzerland.
The Peninsula
