By Barrie Alpha
After the successful climax of the Ram Kay/SLFA Women’s Football Tournament, the President of the Sierra Leone Football Association (SLFA), Thomas Daddy Brima, has hailed the development of women’s football in the country. The Football Federation in partnership with the Ram Kay Foundation commemorated International Women’s Day with the inaugural “Women’s Day Cup 2024” at the Kenema City field from March 1 to 8, 2024.
Following the week long exciting female football matches between the two nations in two different categories, the National U-17 team was held to a 1-1 draw by their Liberian counterpart, but Sierra Leone’s 8 points were enough to clinch the trophy. While the Sierra Leone national senior team, the Sierra Queens, secured a fantastic 2-0 win against Liberia’s U20 in the final match, making them the champions of the tournament with an impressive 9 points from four games.
Speaking after the climax of the tournaments at the Kenema City field, SLFA President Thomas Daddy Brima expressed satisfaction with the manner at which the country’s female football is progressing, thanking the people of Kenema for hosting this year’s event.
‘Today, as President of the Sierra Leone Football Association, it gives me joy to celebrate our precious gems in football as the world observes the International Women’s Day with the theme “Inspire Inclusion”. I feel elated by the support you the people of Kenema have shown to women’s football,” he stated.
“Today’s results in both categories of the Ram K and SLFA Female Football tournaments have shown our resilience in committing ourselves to female football in Sierra Leone. By having the Female under 17 and National A Team play such a competitive tournament shows how much we have achieved as a nation and an FA. As President, I have committed myself to ensuring the Sierra Leone Female top tier League is played every year. Since I assumed power, this is the second time the league is playing actively with positive results-a development that will live on amid the few challenges. Such league created the platform for our ladies to be seen international. A testament to this claim is last year’s female premier league champions, Mogbewmo Queens participated in the International Female CAF Preliminary Qualification,’ the SLFA boss noted.
He underscored that some years ago, under the leadership of his predecessor, the Kenema field was constructed. In protecting its usefulness, his Executive has approved the rehabilitation process of the field by constructing flood lights and providing high powered generator for this field.
‘Gone are the days when our players are playing in a dusty field as ongoing construction of modern artificial turf pitches are taking place in Freetown, Port Loko, Bo and Kono respectively. This is a clear manifestation of my desire to make football great again in Sierra Leone. In the coming months, my leadership will distribute buses to the national male and female ‘A’ teams. I am committed to making football a sport for all,’ Daddy Brima bragged.
The President thanked the Liberian FA for honouring their invitation and also thanked the government of Sierra Leone, expressing the football family appreciation towards their unflinching support in sport. ‘We will always strive for success in all categories. As I close, I want to thank the technical staff of both Under 17 and Senior Female “A” teams for their good job displayed in this tournament. I am excited about such professionalism showed by all.”
“To my fortress, the organisers, SLFA staff and the Kenema District Football Association, my Executive sends heartiest thanks for making this tournament a great one. Congratulations to all awardees and champions. Happy Women’s day to all our beautiful women in sports,’ he concluded.