STAKE HOLDERS ROOT FOR INTRODUCTION OF LADIES’ FOOTBALL IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS

Bishop Angelo Tarantino Memorial SS girl’s football team (red with white) and Arua public SS girl’s football team (blue with white) during the 2025 girl’s football game. All Photo by Godwin Abedican.

By Godwin Abedican

Arua

Football stakeholders in Arua city are calling for the introduction of girls’ football in primary schools to aid talent development at grassroots level.

Currently the secondary schools have introduced football for girls which is seen as a late introduction of the game to the ladies as compared to the boys hence affecting their smooth transition as footballers from primary to secondary schools.

According to Atimnirwoth Mercy, the Games Mistress at Bishop Angelo Tarantino Memorial Secondary School talent needs to be natured early enough.

“It will bring in a lot. We are looking at it bringing confidence, because currently we see girls failing to come out because they feel they can’t manage that particular discipline, but when we instill it in them at an earlier stage, it will be better because as kids grow up, they expose what they are capable of doing. So, if we can have this at primary level, it will help to build them up,” she said in an interview with Radio Pacis.

Atimnirwoth Mercy, the Games Mistress of Bishop Angelo Tarantino Memorial Secondary School speaking during an interview with Radio Pacis

Erick Benard Andeoye, a team coach for St. Mary’s Ediofe Girls Secondary School football team says, this would be a better approach towards promoting girls’ football.

“If girls’ football can be introduced right from primary, it means talent identification can be done in primary and in secondary, we will just add on a few things and the girls’ football will be at a certain level,” Andeoye recommended.

Shida Samsa, a games teacher from River Breeze Nursery and Primary school in Arua city agrees with the proposal saying, this is something that has been given a blind eye to and needs to be proposed to the organizers of games and sports in primary schools

“That idea is good because currently girls are starting football from secondary while in primary they didn’t do. This makes it hard for them to catch up very fast and their progress is always slow. It would really be so good when they start from grassroots and they proceed from there,” she appealed.

Angua Benard, the Chairperson for the Secondary School ball games in Arua city therefore makes a wakeup call to the football game for girls across the region.

“There are girls who are very talented in these games. As west Nile region, we have been killing the talents in girls in terms of football. So, we need to come up with a strategy of giving more ball time for them,” he appealed.

Benard Angua the Chairperson for the ball games.

The fact is that, people still support boys’ football more than girls’ football, which has continued to the managements of some schools. When you look at all these, it is a challenge to the girls. I therefore call upon the Headteachers and school stakeholders to support the game of football for girls and if this idea is taken up to primary school level, it will be better because when these young girls come to secondary schools, they now become stars. Our challenge here is only that, we are starting girls’ football in secondary,” Angua added in regret.

This year Arua city in the third edition of girls’ football along the boys for the secondary schools had only 18 schools that registered girls football teams for the City secondary schools football competitions out of 31 eligible schools.