Leemisa Thuseho
THE National Women’s Football Committee will this week distribute football equipment to women’s developmental teams across the country.
According to the Lesotho Football Association (LeFA) technical director Leslie Notši, 81 women’s clubs will benefit from the initiative.
He said this during the official launch of the distribution in Maseru this week.
Notši said the 81 teams are the only teams that were registered last season across the 10 District Football Associations (DiFAs) and also participated in the developmental leagues.
Each team will get a playing kit, a pair goalkeepers’ gloves, bibs, cones, shin pads, and soccer balls among others.
Notši said the initiative was part of LeFA’s plans under its three-year project dubbed the Women’s Football Relief Plan in which they are using released by FIFA last year to cushion women’s football from the negative effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Last year, LeFA received US$500 000 (about M8 million) from FIFA for Covid-19 relief.
LeFA has already used M250 000 which was distributed to 10 Women’s Super League (WSL) teams. Each received M25 000.
For his part, LeFA’s first vice president Khiba Mohoanyane said the equipment was bought after Notši’s country-wide tour to study the challenges being faced by women’s football.
“We commissioned the study because there was no growth of women’s football. From the study, it was discovered that the major challenge was the lack of equipment,” Mohoanyane said.
He said the association therefore spent M620 730 in purchasing the equipment.
Women’s football committee president Baholo Motene is confident that the initiative will boost the country’s women soccer.
“Women’s football teams are struggling and one of the reasons is the lack of active developmental leagues. We have teams and they want to play but there is no equipment. The availability of equipment is giving us hope that things will change,” Motene said.
