On again

Sylvia Darlington (FP)

By Justin Marville | Sat, January 14, 2012 - 12:07 AM

WOMEN’S SOCCER is coming back off the bench.

Thirteen months after last taking the pitch, Barbados’ best female footballers will take centre stage on the field again as the Women’s League is set to make its return in March following a year-long hiatus.

News of the league’s much-awaited comeback came via an email from the Barbados Football Association (BFA) informing the clubs of this season’s registration process.

“We’re hoping to get a full complement of clubs for this year’s competition because the girls have been set back by the absence of competition,” said Sylvia Darlington, chairperson of the women’s football committee.

“All we can do is hope though . . . We’ve sent out the information and now we just have to await the clubs’ responses and hope that they are positive.”

Launched in 2006, the league was deemed somewhat of a success after fielding seven teams and producing quality players to build national teams to represent Barbados at both the senior and junior levels.

But the progress made in the women’s game suffered a huge setback last season, with just three teams registering for the competition and thus forcing the league’s abandonment for 2011.

The tournament’s September to December out-of-season time frame also posed problems with the scheduling of referees, grounds and facilities, and it was felt the league would be better served running concurrently with the other BFA competitions.

“Based on discussion with the clubs, they wanted to coincide with the men’s season and that was the decision we ended up taking,” explained Darlington.

“I guess we could have still gone forward with just the three confirmed teams but sometimes when you’re planning for the future you have to take rest to continue.”

It was the second major impediment women’s football faced in 2011, following the BFA’s decision to withdraw the Under-20 team from the Caribbean Football Union’s (CFU) World Cup qualifying group in earthquake-ravaged Haiti in October.

The squad’s participation was always under threat, though, as several parents voiced their concerns over the women’s health, with the threat of cholera and dengue rising to an all-time high in the French-speaking country.

“That did prove to be a major setback for us because competition is always good,” said Darlington of the team’s withdrawal.

“The squad is already inexperienced as it is and then we would’ve been able to benchmark where we are at.”

The official added that some of those players might get an opportunity to make up for that missed tour with the anticipated senior World Cup qualifiers expected to be staged sometime later this year. However, no word has come from the reorganised CFU about possible dates, venues or scheduling for the regional competition.

This year’s domestic competition is scheduled to start on March 18, while a women’s showcase has been organized for January 21 at Blenheim for players vying for spots on the national senior side.