The Petrichor Football Association in Cameroon is named for the smell of rain on hot tar, signifying hope and growth, and it’s a sentiment boosted by their recent partnership with Spain’s LaLiga.
LaLiga has teamed up with the PFA to launch the African nation’s first U13 and U15 leagues for girls, in an effort to increase access to grassroots football.
The Ligue d’Égalité, with five teams in each age group, started on Feb. 12 and will end on May 21, and the collaborative project includes the up-skilling of 30 Cameroonian women coaches through three high-level training courses.
Petrichor, which is not affiliated with Cameroon’s official football governing body [FECAFOOT], was founded in 2017 by Jordan Cone and Paul Dreisbach in response to a shortage of resources allocated to youth development in Cameroonian football, particularly in the women’s game.
PFA creates competitions for teams to play in on a voluntary basis, provided that they comply with PFA’s development objectives. The clubs ideally need to have U13 and U15 teams for both boys and girls.
Co-founder Paul Dreisbach, an American, explained to ESPN: “There are the top divisions, but underneath all of it, there’s nothing really organised for the kids to move upwards — especially [with regards to] equal opportunities for the kids.
“Basically, [PFA] started as an initiative to support existing clubs here in Yaoundé. People that [were] already passionate about it, we wanted to support them and help them create more sustainable clubs.
“We as Petrichor don’t have our own teams. We work with local teams here and they apply to be part of our association. If they’re accepted, then they get all the education support, curriculum development, equipment, access to tournaments and scouts.”
Joining up with one of the biggest leagues in the world was a long process for Petrichor, and they timed the launch with the Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon in February, in order to get as many eyes on it as possible.
Dreisbach added: “With the partnership with La Liga, it’s a little bit separate as it’s specifically focusing on two young age groups for girls — which has never happened before.
“We’ve been discussing things with LaLiga for probably three or four years, but it really started to connect about a year ago when the visions lined up really well — with the embassy here [and] the impact of Fundación LaLiga and what they want to do around the world, all the right things happened at the right time and we were ready to go.
“We definitely took advantage of everybody we could that was here [to help give Petrichor] visibility. With the press release day and the press conference, there were journalists from around the world.
“I think it may have happened anyway at some point, but the AFCON definitely helped with the exposure for Cameroon and youth development… It was kind of the perfect time to start something like this.”
Trésor Penku, LaLiga’s delegate in Central Africa, explained why the league got involved with the PFA: “This is an excellent initiative and a big step forward for women’s football in Cameroon.
“This is one of those projects that we are particularly proud to launch, as it paves the way for equal opportunities in the development of football for boys and girls.
“Training sessions for local coaches, mostly women, make this project very complete. In this way, many women who want to pursue a career as professional trainers will have access to top-level content. We are convinced that this is the beginning of a great journey for women’s football in Cameroon.”
ESPN spoke to two 15-year-old girls playing at one member club, Green City. Kenfach Talla Manullo said: “I joined my club, Green City, before Petrichor arrived and we entered [the league]… I want everybody to know my name and when they hear my name, [they must be] proud.”
Her Green City teammate, Tiwa Melong Lys Fraiche, added: “For me, the LaLiga partnership is a great opportunity to accomplish our dreams. I wish to be a professional and a good footballer. I [hope] that all people will talk about me to mark my name all over the country and all over the world.”
They will be aiming to follow in the footsteps of Catherine Mbengono, the left-back who has been part of the Petrichor project and graduated from Green City’s structures to the senior Cameroon women’s national team.
Cameroon have one of the best women’s senior national teams in Africa, but Dreisbach is adamant that more can be done to grow the game below elite level.
He said: “You have the professional divisions, including the national team systems, but underneath that, there’s not really anything… There’s a whole government academy that we like to play against sometimes, but we’ll say, ‘Hey, come with your U15 team,’ and they’ll come with half of the team — mostly boys — and the girls are 20 years old.
“Honestly, [football development in the country] is very weak, it does not exist. Our goal is to build this and to keep growing it to provide better structure for Cameroon, for the federation and for the national team system.
“We don’t need this for ourselves. We’re trying to build a better future for the girls and the other kids that can grow into this system.”
Credit: Source link