Under 12 teams compete from Nassau (pink) and Freeport (blue) on June 19th at the Freeport Rugby Football Club. Photo: Natalia Gonzalez.
Freeport, Grand Bahama Island - Girls from Freeport and New Providence turned heads on June 19th at the Freeport Rugby Club as they played hard fought soccer matches in the under 10 and under 12 divisions.
Freeport, Grand Bahama Island - Girls from Freeport and New Providence turned heads on June 19th at the Freeport Rugby Club as they played hard fought soccer matches in the under 10 and under 12 divisions.
Grand Bahama teams were victorious in both the divisions, winning by a score of 2 - 0 in both matches. After the matches all the teams enjoyed a pizza lunch and camaraderie. The Freeport girls presented the visiting players with Girls’ Soccer Rules! T-shirts and costume soccer rings.
In May of this year, the under 10 and under 12 Dynamos Girls’ Soccer team were crowned the League winners of a six team division in Nassau. As a reward for winning the very prestigious league title, their coach Carl Lynch decided to travel to Grand Bahama and play against the Grand Bahama Girls’ Developmental Program run by Donnie and Mary Knowles.
Coach Lynch gave the following remarks about the visit to Grand Bahama, "On behalf of the 16 girls who made up the squads and the 12 parents who traveled with the team, I would like to thank Freeport for hosting us to a wonderful experience. For a number of the girls this was their first visit to Grand Bahama. For the team, this was their first traveling match and they enjoyed the experience fully. We accomplished 95% of what we wanted with this trip and we look forward to traveling again in the near future."
"The games were very competitive and I was able to evaluate my 10-under squad to see what I had for the upcoming season. The under 12 girls performed very well, but could have used a few more reinforcements. They performed above the level where we left at the end of our regular season," Lynch continues.
"Female football looks very bright and will continue to grow in the Bahamas. If the youngsters continue to perform with the passion we saw on Saturday, we will soon make our way to the international level. Our squad is now on summer break officially and we will return with a new mission at the end of August."
"The parents enjoyed the experience except for the fact that the trip was too short. We agreed that the next rip will be a longer one so that we can take in more sights and get to relax a bit. For a number of them, surprisingly, this was their first trip to Freeport as well," he finished.
The Dynamos created special "Soccer Tour 2010" pink t-shirts especially for the trip. Aside from parents that traveled with the Nassau contingent, many Grand Bahama parents were on the sidelines cheering on their daughters. The U12 teams played 30 minute halves, and the U10 teams played 20 minute halves.
Coach Mary Woodside-Knowles said that the best part for her was just seeing the girls being able to put the game aside and socialize after the game with parents and the girls. "We can always learn from each other and we plan on networking and getting ideas from each other to make the girls’ program stronger in the Bahamas. Already we have a young lady who played on the Dynamos team, but is moving to Grand Bahama for one year so we made arrangements for her to train with us until she is able to rejoin her team in Nassau. After seeing Carl Lynch’s program, we would feel quite comfortable sending any of our girls to him if anyone had to move to Nassau as well."
In terms of the level of play, Coach Mary Knowles said that she was pleased with how aggressive the girls were on both teams. "All the girls fought to the end which made the games exciting to watch. All teams should be congratulated as many of the spectators, including England F.A. Skills instructors, were impressed with the quality of play shown by the girls." The FA Skills coaches are in Freeport for the English Premier League/Jack Hayward soccer Camp being held this week at the Freeport Rugby Club.
Coach Donnie Knowles said that he is sure the girls will have an added incentive to work hard in the fall as they will want to make the team that plays Nassau in 2011.
Goal scorers for the under 10 Freeport team were Hanna Joy Simms and Ashleigh Bernon. Myah Greene got the shutout in the net.
Goal scorers for the under 12 game were Nikeitra Barbes and Shannon Albury. Anise Laing got the shutout in the goal.
For more information on Grand Bahama Girls' Soccer contact Mary Woodside-Knowles at gbgirlssoccerleague@gmail.com or call 242-352-3641 (Town and Country). Find Grand Bahama Girls Soccer on Facebook.
