CIFA reps to talk women

Cook Islands Football Associations national womens coach Jimmy Katoa and general secretary Mii Piri will represent the local football body at the 5th FIFA Womens Football Symposium in Germany.

The symposium is being held during the 6th FIFA Women World Cup in Frankfurt.

The symposium will take place from the July 15 to 17 on the eve of the FIFA Womens World Cup final.

Katoa and Piri depart for Germany this afternoon and both are looking forward to the three-day event.

As the national coach for the womens side, Katoa will be looking to exchange ideas with other coaches with the development and promotion of womens football.

It will be a full on three-day programme covering areas of the game especially to increase the participation of women and girls in football, says Katoa.

It is my hope that what I gain from this symposium will help to structure and promote our programme here in the Cook Islands.

FIFAs 208 member associations will take part in the event, and of these most countries chose to send their national womens coach and general secretary with around 500 delegates taking part.

Womens football has become a worldwide sporting phenomenon and a key driver of growth for the sport of football all around the world.

Today, some 26 million women and girls play football and one in every ten football players is female.

Womens football is growing not only in absolute terms each year, but also in parts of the world where it has perhaps not been traditionally strong.

FIFA has been supporting the development and growth of womens football since the late 1980s, and has designed clear policies for its promotion.

While in Germany, Katoa and Piri will have the opportunity to attend the 6th FIFA Womens World Cup finals in Frankfurt.