Last week, the “Soccer for Women” seminar was held, which took place entirely at the Headquarters of the Paraguayan Football Association and was carried out by the Development Directorate, within the framework of a joint project between Conmebol and the UEFA.
Develop, professionalize and promote women’s football, these are the three fundamental axes that they want to impose on the APF. To this end, training is a key tool in achieving these objectives and to that end, the “Football for Women” seminar was held, organized by the Association’s Development Directorate in conjunction with Conmebol and UEFA. .
Achieving a greater participation of women in decision-making within the world of football, achieving a greater influence on the growth of this sport and at the same time, being examples for other women, empowering them in this field, were the key points focused. This seminar was an opportunity to understand the football network and for the women themselves to develop and understand themselves as leaders, projecting themselves for great changes.
This program was carried out within the framework of the inter-institutional cooperation project between Conmebol and UEFA, with another of the main objectives being to provide assistance and support to Conmebol member associations through the implementation of agreements within the UEFA Assist program.
Geoff Wilson, expert in strategic communication and marketing; Chris Milnes, specialist in international relations and manager of the UEFA Assist program; Hesterine de Reus, manager of the Football for Women project, and Eva Pasquier, responsible for international relations at UEFA and for the UEFA Assist programme, shared and enriched this seminar with their concepts and experiences in football. Marketing, technical skills, women in leadership, interpersonal skills, governance and collaboration were the topics discussed, through which the participants sought to inspire other women in the future and support that transition to leadership, not only in football, but also in the same society.
After what was the development of the “Soccer for Women” seminar, the exhibitors who were in charge of said course, visited the headquarters of the High Performance Center for Women’s Soccer (Carfem), whose remodeling and readjustment works are in full execution.
This project only received praise from UEFA representatives, recognizing the value that this infrastructure will have for the growth and constant support of women’s football. These works have been carried out with contributions from both FIFA, through the Forward program, as well as with funds from the Conmebol Evolution program.
Taking advantage of the visit to the city of Ypané, they went to see the High Performance Sports Center “Esc. Óscar Harrison”, where in addition to the tour of the facilities, a round table was held between UEFA, Conmebol and the APF, with a view to future joint projects by the Development Directorates of the aforementioned institutions.
Among the APF authorities who accompanied this activity were Alba Benítez, deputy general secretary; Douglas Martínez, Director of Development; Edgar Queiroz, Compliance Officer; Natalia Cabarcos, Press and Digital Manager, and Juan Melgarejo, in charge of the Carfem and Carde properties. On behalf of Conmebol, Mei Nagaoka, from the Development Department, and UEFA exhibitors attended; Hesterine De Reus, Chris Milnes and Geoff Wilson.
