Jerome Otchere writes: Enamoured by womenâ??s football

Football is delectable. Womens football is even delightful. South Africa, after losing five WAFCON finals eventually won, beating host Morocco 2-1 at the WAFCON 2022. South Africas win is no shock. If Morocco had won too, it wouldve been fair.They both deserved the title but the best team won the competition. Zambia, placing third was actually a source of amazement for me but for the very close watchers of womens game, Zambias enthralling form was expected. The pundits say they anticipated a Nigeria fall given how countries like South Africa had risen.The fact is that success in football over a period just doesnt happen. United States, Sweden, France, Canada, Brazil, and North Korea are amongst the top ten ranked teams in womens football in the world. They arrived at that status through careful, deliberate planning; big investment, and professionalism in implementing management decisions with firm adherence to abiding practices in the game.Money is critical in addition to marrying education with sports (football) to groom athletes through the school systems; employing good trainers, modern and proper infrastructure, and well-organised leagues these form the pillars for the growth of womens football worldwide. Ghana cant deviate from these vital ingredients if we truly want laurels and also to be counted amongst the best in womens football.We havent paid good enough attention to womens football. The Ghana Football Association (GFA) recently has shown commitment to the womens game, taking notable steps but the woefully inadequate financial resources and the lack of right infrastructure remain potent negative factors to developing our womens football.Ive seen brilliant FIFA documents providing guidelines to member associations on growing the womens game. For me, in Ghanas case, the matter of development goes beyond the GFA. Whats the states policy on sports of which womens football is part?We cant develop football and sports with only raw talent and our usual talk. Things like the Black Princesses' qualification to the FIFA World Cup in Costa Rica are positive and weve to build on such feats. Exploits of Hasaacas Ladies in the maiden CAF Womens Champions League also show our womens potential as it forecasts what they could be capable of with money and the right support factors.The Black Queens inability to qualify for the WAFCON 2022 to me, wasnt merely because Nigeria, our nemesis, eliminated us. We just didnt have the quality to stop them and thats been the case for years. Meanwhile, this same Nigeria have been superbly contained and beaten by South Africa. Development is key in everything.Its also about investments. As stated earlier, Ghana sports must have the fulcrum for development right. Without that, whether its in football, boxing, or athletics we cant build teams to compete favourably anywhere beyond our country. Its time the state especially re-examined the strata for sports development.Whats the states policy on sports financing and infrastructural development for example? If we dont properly assess and determine where we want to go and how well get there, I repeat, we wouldnt be able to rub shoulders with the best in Africa, talk less of the world in any serious competition. It wouldnt just be womens football.Source: JeromeOtchere.com  Read Full Story