MIAMI, Florida – As part of its initiative to grow women’s football in the Confederation, Concacaf has restarted its Concacaf W Webinar Series, with the first in a new series of webinars taking place last Monday, May 10, hosted by Concacaf Head of Women’s Football, Karina LeBlanc.
Concacaf president Victor Montagliani, who led Canada’s effort to host the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup and drove the launch of Concacaf W, provided the opening remarks to the many Member Association Presidents, General Secretaries, Heads of Women’s Football and Technical Directors that attended the Webinar.
“We have been doing webinars Confederation-wide and last year when we did it, we reached 2,141 people. It was about bringing the women’s football community together, talking some tactics, talking inspiration, and having people in women’s football feel seen and heard,” said LeBlanc in an exclusive interview with Concacaf.com
“It started with Victor Montagliani coming in and saying that we have some exciting things going on in a new women’s national teams ecosystem, which is a big deal, that we have development programs and that we will be hosting the Under-20 Women’s World Cup in Costa Rica. But I think the key thing is that the many presidents and general secretaries in attendance got the inspiration and understanding of the role that leadership plays in growing the women’s game,” added LeBlanc.
With Concacaf launching a new women’s football ecosystem in November of this year, which will include a Nations League competition, the Webinar was an ideal time for MAs to share ideas and best practices as they prepare to host national team matches this fall.
Contributing to the conversation was a Q & A session conducted by LeBlanc with FIFA Chief Women’s Football Officer Sarai Bareman, who offered key advice and insight to attendees.
“The purpose of that call with Sarai was to reignite, remind and inspire the leaders of the importance of the role that they play in women’s football, and that now is the time to get things going. With our ecosystem starting in November, the federations need to start planning now since some MAs are still not even allowed to practice as a team at this time. Some of the highlights from the new ecosystem is that there are more top-level international matches. It’s almost double the amount played previously and the federations are excited that they will be hosting so many games. Being able to play at home for your country is game-changing. It’ll also be more competitive because we’ll have different tiers in Nations League with Leagues A, B and C, so it gives the opportunity for more MAs to host, but also play more competitive games in a cycle.
“We had 34 of our MAs at this Webinar there and it was important for them to hear from President Montagliani, and also hear the conversation between myself and Sarai and talk about the game and the roles that everyone on the call has in moving the game forward. It was an opportunity for us to reconnect and say women’s football, we are here and we do matter,” said LeBlanc.
As women’s football continues to grow, the opportunity awaits for more Concacaf MAs to bring their respective women’s program onto the biggest stages, including the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
For LeBlanc, it is critical for the presidents and general secretaries of MAs to be able to put an answer to the question of why those women’s football initiatives should be happening.
“We talked about more World Cup slots and how that means there will be more teams representing our Confederation, which is huge. It was 3.5 and now there’s a potential of six of our countries at a World Cup. It adds to the ‘why’, of why you introduce developmental programs and coaching education programs like a Concacaf D license program for women by women. We are creating an environment where women can go and be seen and heard and feel comfortable to ask questions. We have a grassroots program in NextPlay Girls which we have just revamped. For those MAs that ask, ‘If I want to do grow my women’s football program, what are best practices from the region and the world?’ We are there to share knowledge and support the MAs in taking things to the next level,” said LeBlanc.
The next webinar in the Concacaf W Webinar Series will take place this Monday, May 17, and is open to all those involved in women’s football, will be led by Concacaf General Secretary Philippe Moggio. Currently, more than 700 people are registered for the event.
