by The KHS Cup gained popularity in men’s football as a tournament bringing elite youth academies to Malta and has now opened doors into women’s football too. A debut one-day tournament for U16 women’s teams was held last week featuring Italian outfit Sampdoria, alongside locals Hibernians, Lija Athletic, Valletta and Swieqi United. Comments from tournament organiser Marko Glumac and the teams’ coaches suggest that the foundation has been laid for more to come.
Pilot Success
The KHS Cup has gradually become a highly anticipated recurrence in boys football, bringing together Maltese teams against foreign academies, with the aim of pushing youth development in football.
Having grown in popularity, the demand for a women’s counterpart was met by the inaugural competition for U16 women’s team, held at Mgarr Ground last Wednesday. The first launch was set over a single-day, featuring round-robin matches with foreign guest Sampdoria, together with local teams Hibernians, Lija Athletic, Valletta and Swieqi United.
Tournament organiser Marko Glumac spoke about the decision to expand the tournaments for women’s teams, “With these KHS Cups we have opened Malta as a destination for youth international tournament. We started with the boys but it was clear that there is demand for these tournaments for girls teams as well. As we know there is always this push for all elite clubs to have women’s teams and we are happy to have this first tournament to support this.”
He continued, “In the past seven to eight tournaments for the boys I opened discussions with the elite teams to see if they were interested in getting involved also with their women’s teams. They all were happy to get involved because of the good feedback from the boys’ tournament, noting the good organisation and that Malta is a great destination.”
Probed about whether the fact that women’s football lacks the huge finances that back men’s football was of any deterrence to get this tournament launched, Glumac commented, “I think there is a real rise in the popularity of women’s football, both locally and in Europe. This helps a lot to organise these tournaments. However, financially it is the same as the boys’ teams. The tournament falls under the cap of sports tourism. There is a small participation fee which helps to finance the foreign elite teams. This does not refer only to big names, we look for quality teams that can push the football forward.”
A Window For Spotting Talent
Glumac noted that besides the tournaments enabling teams to play against quality teams from different countries, the competition also offers the opportunity for scouts to assess these talents. In fact, the inaugural tournament featured the head of scouting from Italian side Juventus, Matilde Malatesta, as a special guest.
Glumac noted the desire to have the KHS Cup act as a vehicle for talent to get identified, “Apart from teams playing against each other, there is always a scouting moment. This has happened in the boys’ tournaments. Sometimes it is even the foreign coaches who spot local talent and speak to the local coaches after the game. We want to give this same opportunity for the girls.”
Nodding to the number of Maltese players already making waves in top women’s leagues, Glumac said, “We know that there are already many women players doing well abroad and this is inspiring even for us as tournament organisers. So, apart from giving local teams the opportunity to play against different challenging opponents, we also hope to create a window for players to get identified, perhaps do a trial and even play abroad.”
Teams: “Tournament An Opportunity For Growth”
Probed about the sides’ participation in the tournament, Sampdoria coaches Barabino Fabio and Scibilio Francesco revealed, “This is the first time that Sampdoria Women are participating in an international tournament, ever, at any academy level. So we are honoured to have received this invitation and happy to participate.”
Scibilio Francesco spoke of the main objectives in playing this tournament, “This gives the opportunity for our players to play against teams that they do not know, which pushes them to try to solve new problems. The importance is not to lift the trophy. That will come as long as players develop.”
Meanwhile, Barabino Fabio added, “Besides learning on the pitch, the opportunity enables the team to develop also off the pitch, grow in unity and to mature. Ultimately, our aim is to develop players for the first team.”
Asked to articulate the differences observed in playing against Maltese teams as opposed to their locals in Italy, Scibilio Francesco noted, “In Italy there is a lot of emphasis on intensity, tactics and physical elements. I think the Maltese teams are developing toward this, so I think there is big movement to reach higher levels of intensity and tactically.”
Meanwhile, Hibernians participated with a numerous group of girls, in fact setting up two teams in the competition. Coach Kathleen Saliba spoke of the importance of giving playing time against challenging opponents in preparation for next season. “Playing against Sampdoria showed us that, while I believe we have a similar level, they are capable of playing more direct and quick-passing football. It has been my objective to instil this. So, playing against Sampdoria shone a light in the areas were we are slower and need to work.”
Probed about whether bringing together of foreign and local teams enables players to have a real picture of the opportunities available, Saliba said, “Opportunities today are everywhere, but it depends on determination and how much you are willing to push. This is why I keep pushing players and the reality is that you can never settle. It was nice to see the integration between the team and also Sampdoria, for players to get a real feeling of the possibilities out there as well. Certainly, these are special moments to enable growth.”
Valletta are a team who also opted to participate in the tournament, continuing to build on their journey in the Tornei Giovanili Sicilia. Julian Buhagiar focused on a select number of players who could benefit from playing against top sides, “There aren’t many tournaments like this locally, so we immediately grasped the opportunity when presented and I hope that there are more organised.”
Commenting on their participation and objectives, Buhagiar finished, “The aim today was to give all the players an experience, including against a team of Sampdoria’s name, and to also try a few new things in preparation for next season.”
Also joining them were Swieqi United and Lija Athletic. The latter’s coach, Michael Briscoe, commended the organisation of the tournament, “It was a positive experience. Considering the league finished earlier, this tournament provided an opportunity to play some football. Additionally, it gave the team a unique experience in playing against a foreign team in Sampdoria. Although most of their players are older than those in my team, it was still a great experience to motivate them toward working harder to be able to compete against such players in the future.”
Briscoe finished noting that more needs to be done to offer opportunities for girls to play, “I believe that at the moment there are a lot of girls who are not being involved in matches and are dropping out. There has to be something that organisations must do to avoid girls joining clubs and being left on the sidelines instead of improving them by letting them play. Match practice teaches girls how to react and is crucial to help them improve. So, the organisation of more tournaments of this kind could definitely help our girls improve further.”
Future Editions Already In The Works
Tournament organiser Marko Glumac revealed that this event was a pilot, with works already in progress for a fully-fledged tournament. He said, “We organised this first one as pilot project before summer, but we are preparing for next season to have a bigger one.”
The idea is to expand it for more ages, as is done for the boys. Additionally, Glumac noted that while this inaugural Girls KHS Cup was held over one day, future cups will be held over a weekend as is done for the boys. This, he noted will enable teams to play more games, as well as give an opportunity for players to grow more even off the pitch in the experience.
Although the tournament featured 9-aside football, Glumac commented that this was agreed with the teams for this pilot project. However, in the future the number of players on the pitch would be determined according to the age category as stipulated by normal rules. In this regard, Glumac also noted that most often the tournaments that are held close to the end of the season are prepared to enable teams to start testing waters for the next season, including catering for when players are stepping up from 9-aside to 11-aside.
Glumac noted that this inaugural tournament will be a good way to promote the idea among more foreign teams, while also encouraging more local teams to compete. “Sampdoria were willing to play in this first tournament and I thank them for their participation. We look forward to grow more and can host a lot more foreign teams who wish to participate. I thank also those local teams who participated and encourage more to join. It is open to everyone, all the clubs.”
Those interested may keep up with the ongoings by following the KHS Cup main website or the social media pages.
Lead Image: Michael Azzopardi
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