It has been a long time coming, but Papua New Guinea will finally see its National Women’s Soccer League kick off early this next month with matches in Lae and Port Moresby.
The Papua New Guinea Football Association has been working hard behind the scenes to prepare for the much anticipated competition, with 14 teams set to battle it out for the women's silverware.
The Northern Conference has Sepik FC, Pacific Gardens FC, Markham Raings FC, Morobe Tulips FC, Bara FC, Rainy Lae FC, Poro FC and Tusbab Laidamon FC while Southern Conference has Port Moresby City FC, Port Moresby City Academy, National Capital District Public Servant Soccer Association, Hekari United FC, Genesis FC and Amoana FC.
Recently appointed PNGFA Competition Director, Paul Isorua, has confirmed the competing teams will be split into two conferences, Northern and Southern.
“Northern Conference teams consist of a team from East Sepik Province, Madang, Goroka and five are Lae-based while Southern has five Port Moresby-based teams and one from Central Province,” he said.
“So far, preparation has been going well and we are excited to see the revival of the women’s league.
“We are starting off with the launch on Wednesday November 25 with a big bang, which will include the unveiling of the draw.”
Isorua said the Conference competition stage will be a league format with two rounds, before the top two teams from the respective conferences proceed to the finals.
Papua New Guinea Football Association General Secretary, Pius Letenge, believes the revamping of the women’s league is an interesting and exciting prospect, especially with the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 on the horizon.
“There is a huge interest in women’s football and it has grown massively over the years. We have seen young women and girls coming out from different settlements, communities, tribes, clans and provinces in Papua New Guinea and excelling in the sport,” Letenge said.
“We are also seeing mothers who regularly attend trainings and who bring their children to games. It’s truly amazing to see young women and girls who are focused to grow to become better, not only in football, but also in life.
“Our women’s national team is the only team in the country that has won five consecutive gold medals in the Pacific Games.
“We are currently ranked 48 in the world and second in Oceania behind New Zealand.
“Our aim now for 2020 is to identify talented women and girls in football for development.”
Letenge said PNGFA will be going into overdrive in its bid to ensure players are well prepared over the next two years with the goal of qualifying for the FIFA Women’s World Cup for the first time.
Although Papua New Guinea hosted the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in 2016, competing with pride and honour on the global stage, women’s football development in the country has suffered immensely from the political maelstrom which has blighted the association over the past five years.
The promises that tournament offered have unfortunately not been delivered on, with many young players lost in the wilderness without regular matches, training, or any organised football activities to aid their development.
However, football still seems to have ingrained itself in the blood of many as Papua New Guinea won their fifth Pacific Games gold medal in 2019, less than a year after disappointingly missing out on the final of the OFC Women’s Nations Cup following a semi-final loss to rising women’s football nation Fiji.
With stability returning to PNGFA, a new president in John Kapi Natto joined by the newly appointed Letenge, things are certainly looking up for women’s football in the region’s most populous nation.
“These are hugely exciting times for women’s football and as the country’s flagship women’s competition, the revamped Women’s League will have a key role to play in furthering this growth,” Letenge said.
(Hekari United FC under the guidance of head coach, Erickson Komeng, are hard at training in preparation for the kick-off of the women’s competition)
