The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

SHE’S been in office for four months but, for Anya James, it’s an honour to be serving as the first female president of the Bahamas Football Association.

Although it’s widely considered a “male-dominated sport,” James is not operating in her first rodeo. She previously served as the executive vice president for the past eight years under the presidency of Anton Sealey.

But now at the helm since elected on May 16, James said she has some plans to grow the sport from the grassroots level to the women’s game throughout the Commonwealth of the Bahamas.

“We’ve targeted Grand Bahama because Grand Bahama has a very strong youth women’s programme and I think they have a few players coming in from Grand Bahama to play on our women’s national team,” James said.

“We are looking at improving and expanding the women’s programme in Grand Bahama, we are looking at expanding in Abaco, Exuma and Eleuthera for starters. We plan to get more players in and also now that we have our senior women’s national team playing, we have some of the older players and senior players interested in coming back.”

Through the support of the Ministry of Education, Science and Tecnology, James said they are looking at enhancing their programme in the schools and they have already shipped equipment to Cat Island, Inagua and a few other islands so that they can start and sustain their programmes.

“But we want to start with those four islands that I mentioned earlier with those because we know we have people on the ground who can sustain the programmes,” she stated. “We don’t just want to introduce the programme, but we want to make sure they are sustainable as well.”

Funding, according to James, won’t be an issue for the BFA.

“For some of the programmes, we will get some assistance from the FIFA Foundation and FIFA also has a programme called Football for Schools, so that’s one of the avenues that we are to use to introduce football to the Commonwealth of the Bahamas.”

In an era where more women are coming to the forefront in sporting organisations on the global stage, James said she has embraced her opportunity at the national level.

“I didn’t think that being president of the BFA was attainable at some point because football is still a man’s world,” James said.

“But I was actually encouraged by my late father, my husband and my sons, so I actually had men encouraging me to step forward.

“Being involved in the administration of football over the past eight years, why not.”

But, at the same time, it’s always good to be the first to break the glass ceiling.

“As women we bring a different perspective to the table. We’re not here to take over, but we’re here to sit at the table and add value,” James stated.

“So it’s exciting and I’m encouraging other women to step forward because I know there are a few other women who are capable of leading, so I’m the first female, but I definitely won’t be the last female.”

And while she will be the trailblazer, James said she’s encouraged to have another female in Daria Adderley serving on the board as well as the council member responsible for the women’s programme.

“Most people will know that soccer is her life,” James said. “She’s contributed a lot to the sport, so it’s exciting and I will be encouraging a lot more women to get involved in all aspects of football.”

As for her tenure in office so far, James admitted that it’s been busy. “I’m going to stay focused on the plans that we have. I have an excellent combination of council members, a few that have served previously and a few new members,” James said.

“They have brought a lot of new ideas and a lot of new ideas to execute our plans, so it’s exciting.”

Before her four-year term is done, James said she intends to get more people involved in the sport.

“Football is the world’s favourite sport, so we plan on taking over,” she said. “It might not be the favourite sport in The Bahamas, but that’s part of my plan. That is going to change soon.”

One of the changes will be the return of some of the former players as they participate in the formation of a senior women’s league that is high on the agenda for James.