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Post by stellarboy on Jan 20, 2012 11:03:02 GMT 8
A League of Our Own: Making the case for a Filipino women’s football leagueBelay Fernando, InterAKTV · Thursday, January 19, 2012 · 1:34 pm Being at the UFL league 2012 opening made me realize how badly the female football players of this country needed a league too. The excitement, the crowd, the sheer hype of it all, pushes the men to work harder to improve their game, and why shouldn’t we have that as well? It’s about time since majority of the population of female football players’ careers end at the collegiate level. After this, playing football means either suiting up for the women’s national team or joining small club teams who mainly participate in seven-a-side tournaments. The former is a long shot for most players and the latter doesn’t satiate the hunger. A career in football is unthinkable unless it’s to coach or referee, or for the very lucky few, to be part of the Philippine Football Federation, Asian Football Confederation or FIFA. But a career is not even what most of female football players are looking for. It’s the chance to be challenged and to be in that competitive atmosphere beyond our 4-5 years of collegiate action. Something that gives girls the hope that there is something beyond the UAAP or the WNCAA. After all, only 5 women’s teams participate in the UAAP while the WNCAA only has futsal as an event. On a positive note, there are whispers and rumors of a UFL women’s league, as well as a FIFA-run league. Either way, the female population of the football community have gotten wind of this and are slowly getting their act together. I, for one, am excitedly awaiting my former teammates to suit up once more and return to action. It’s been way too long for some of these girls. And I assure you, a lot of them are raring to go. I say it’s our turn to get out there on the pitch. And it’s our turn to inspire the little girls watching on the sidelines into getting into the sport we’ve loved for a long time now. Women’s football surely is a different pace from the men’s, but is the same game full of passion and heart. A game that we can now say will truly capture the hearts of all Filipinos. www.interaksyon.com/interaktv/a-league-of-our-own-making-the-case-for-a-filipino-womens-football-league
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Post by stellarboy on Feb 10, 2012 22:41:29 GMT 8
Women's national team (Malditas) coach Ernie Nierras, who guested in the Football Hangover podcast of InterAKTV, has said that to be able for the women's national team to continue to progress in their fitness and skills, the PFF has submitted a proposal to FIFA (through AFF) to build a women's professional league. Also, a few fans have been insisting to have a women's division of the UFL. The final outline of the plans will be finalized in the next 5-6 months. www.interaksyon.com/interaktv/football-hangover-footie-talk-with-stallion-giligans-and-malditas-coach-ernie-nierras
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Post by cjeagle on Feb 11, 2012 1:18:55 GMT 8
Good luck Ernie. It is good that FIFA will help sponsor this. Just don't expect it to turn a profit and turn pro. Here in the US, the Women's Professional League just closed shop although they say they will try to come back. This is the 2nd try at a women's professional(full not just semi) league after WUSA also collapsed. Keep it at the semi-pro or amateur level and it should be fine.
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Post by cilantro on Mar 7, 2012 23:31:16 GMT 8
talk is there will be a women's league pretty soon. i hope this comes into fruition
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Post by macduff on Mar 19, 2012 21:23:54 GMT 8
A professional league is not necessary. It is more important to have many teams and healthy competition. What happens in other sports is that sponsors will give players a job and time off for training and competitions. The sponsor benefits by being associated with hard working and dedicated athletes while the player benefits by gaining an income and valuable work experience. If the player is from overseas a job might help keep them in the Philippines. In the USA, Home Depot does a lot of advertising about the Olympic athletes that they give jobs to. It is good for business. Most of the Malditas have a university education. Hire a Maldita. Help them win championships.
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Post by dingodile5 on Mar 19, 2012 23:53:02 GMT 8
Having a women's league is good. This is the place where we can get future Malditas Most developed nations in football have this
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Post by stellarboy on May 17, 2012 17:17:38 GMT 8
Ernie Nierras (@foottiecrazy): Womens super league gets FIFA approval. Womens football #ITSMOREFUNINTHEPHILIPPINES
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Post by stellarboy on May 17, 2012 17:55:04 GMT 8
FIFA throws support behind Philippine women’s football leagueInterAKTV · Thursday, May 17, 2012 · 5:38 pm Women footballers in the Philippines came one step closer to being in a league of their own. In a letter dated May 11, FIFA expressed its support for the Philippine Football Federation’s plan to establish a women’s league in the country. The international football body pledged to provide help the PFF in the initial phase of setting up the league, which includes the development of a national championship plan and the set up of a league structure through one of FIFA’s Women’s Football Consultants. FIFA also asked the PFF to provide additional information to be able to avail of equipment and financial support, stressing that the league “should be a yearly/on-going initiative and not a one-off event.” The development came as welcome news for proponents of women’s football in the country. “Another impossibility made possible,” wrote Ernie Nierras, coach of the Philippine national women’s football team, the Malditas, on his Twitter account. Belay Fernando, a defender for the Malditas, wrote an essay last January arguing for the establishment of women’s football league in the Philippines. “I say it’s our turn to get out there on the pitch. And it’s our turn to inspire the little girls watching on the sidelines into getting into the sport we’ve loved for a long time now. Women’s football surely is a different pace from the men’s, but is the same game full of passion and heart. A game that we can now say will truly capture the hearts of all Filipinos,” she wrote. www.interaksyon.com/interaktv/fifa-throws-support-behind-philippine-womens-football-league
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Post by dingodile5 on May 17, 2012 23:51:32 GMT 8
When do you think our women's league will start? hehe This is one thing our MALDITAS need especially the players based here.
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Post by stellarboy on May 18, 2012 0:36:17 GMT 8
When do you think our women's league will start? hehe This is one thing our MALDITAS need especially the players based here. I presume this Women's Super League will come through next year, probably to coincide with the UFL season for men. This league can be a good avenue for local-based female footballers to compete and earn somewhat. But as cjeagle said, don't expect this one to turn pro like the UFL will eventually be.
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Post by cypher210 on May 18, 2012 7:57:24 GMT 8
hopefully theres gonna be new pitches by the time this happens. adding a women's league would just add up to the wear and tear of our current pitches.
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Post by dingodile5 on May 21, 2012 9:03:31 GMT 8
FIFA okays Phl Women's Super LeagueBy Olmin Leyba (The Philippine Star) Updated May 21, 2012 12:00 AM Comments (0) View comments MANILA, Philippines - Filipina booters will soon get a chance to play big-time football as the International Football Federation (FIFA) has given its green light and assured technical and financial support for the creation of a Women’s Super League (WSL) in the country – a major undertaking expected to help elevate the Malditas national team in status just like the Azkals. Malditas coach Ernie Nierras said the PFF’s women’s committee and stakeholders of women’s football are laying the groundwork for the formation of the WSL, a foreign-flavored pro league targeted for Feb. 2013 launch. “We’ll be starting a Women’s Super League, the highest league in the Phl. It won’t be full professional in the beginning but the direction is for it to be a pro league and it’s gonna be nationwide. There are still some questions at this point but the important thing is we’ll not do this on our own; Fifa will be guiding us all the way through,” Nierras said. “And unlike other leagues in the Phl, once you win (the WSL), you’ll be part of the AFC Women’s Champions League so it’s very, very good for Phl women’s football; it will bring us to the next level as far as competition is concerned,” he added. Currently, stakeholders are holding weekly football tourneys for ladies, like the Women’s Football League, Women’s Summer League and the competitions put up by coach Hans Smith. Nierras said the plan is to consolidate such activities, involve provincial teams/clubs, upgrade them and create the top-flight WSL. Nierras said they will hold a tourney featuring 8-10 school teams and clubs in August before ultimately launching the WSL at the end of the UAAP football hostilities around February or March 2013. Five potential team owners, he reported, have already been identified for the planned WSL. “When the Women’s Super League starts, you’ll see a lot of foreign players come in. We want to be able to elevate the quality of the national team players, that’s really our main purpose here,” said Nierras. The Malditas are currently ranked 88th in the world, gunning for a top 50 standing in the next few years. They are eyeing a training camp in Australia or Thailand as part of preparations for the 2012 AFF Women’s Championships in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam in September. In the last edition of that tourney in Laos, the Malditas placed third in Group B, finishing with only a point in the elims (0-1-2), their best result a 2-2 draw with Malaysia. www.philstar.com/sportsarticle.aspx?articleid=809184&publicationsubcategoryid=69
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Post by cilantro on May 21, 2012 9:29:23 GMT 8
^ i chanced upon this article too on the philstar and it really made my monday morning more training and more exposure will only translate to a better international showing. a round of beer for those who made this possible!
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Post by cjeagle on May 28, 2012 1:13:59 GMT 8
I think turning fully pro for the women's league is too ambitious. It means having increasingly bigger expenses(including hiring expensive imports) that the sponsors might not be able to cover. Just like any other league, this will be a business enterprise and have to show that they can turn a profit eventually. Will any broadcasting company be willing to show the games and pay a multiyear contract for the privilege? Will they attract fans so that sponsors and advertisers will consider investing in them? The US tried setting up a women's pro league twice and in the end, they just couldn't show they can be profitable enough for the sponsors and business owners to continue investing in them and they collapsed. Inspite the huge number(in the millions) of female players in the US at the youth, school and college level(almost as large as the men), they have not been able to turn this huge potential fanbase, by and large into ticket buying fans or even into eyeballs watching their games in tv. This is a trend that has been seen not only in the US but worldwide. Considering the limited number of sponsors willing to invest in Philippine football at this time, this might end up even competing for the ones who would normally put their money in the UFL(only 3 years old and not even selling tickets yet and therefore still financially quite fragile) or other men's football leagues instead plus we don't even have the infrastructure to support a nationwide league yet. I think if they want this league to succeed longterm, they should concentrate on keeping the league amateur or semi pro in order to minimize expenses. It is good that FIFA will be willing to cover some of the initial expenses for this endeavor, but at some point this league will eventually be expected to stand on its own and having unreasonable expectations might be detrimental to its longterm success. Here is a final epitaph a few days ago, on the demise of the Women's Professional League(the 2nd iteration of women's professional soccer in the US), by long time pioneer and US women's national team player Julie Foudy. espn.go.com/espnw/commentary/7962722/espnw-julie-foudy-explores-whether-women-pro-soccer-make-usI also suggest reading the comments in this article, made by some of the stakeholders of women's pro soccer in the US.
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Post by macduff on May 28, 2012 2:05:40 GMT 8
I agree with cjeagle. The purpose of the league has to be to give women a place to play and hopefully to receive quality coaching. In my experience in women's football the only sponsors they can expect are from people who are showing support for a family member on the team and who never expect any financial benefit from their charity. It may be that the players will have to pay to play, in order to cover the expenses. It is still great news. I just think that the league will fail if they expect to pay coaches, players, referees, travel, practice fields etc. from ticket sales. It is better to have 15 solid amateur teams run by volunteers than 5 struggling pro teams. These amateur teams need to have youth teams to feed them players. When I read the stories about some of the Malditas they say that they started playing in high school. That is too late. Girls in America can start when they are 5 years old. That is where the development needs to happen. I appreciate the hard work that Ernie and the young women have done for women's football. I must admit that given the hype surrounding the new president and the new support for women's football, I am very disappointed that the Malditas have only played in one tournament and have had no other matches. It is amazing to me how hard Ernie and the Malditas train and sacrifice even though they never are given a chance to play. Filipinos know that life is not always fair, but the PFF did promise that things would be different with the new president. The Malditas are still waiting.
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