When talking about women's soccer, Bosnia & Herzegovina is not usually a country that comes up in the conversation. While this small Eastern European country has its share of talented female athletes, soccer has never been its strong point. There has been a recent effort in the country to help promote the sport among girls. Veteran players from the domestic league have started investing their time, knowledge and passion into coaching the girls' youth teams. My daughters have the privilege of playing for the developmental team of SFK Sarajevo 2000. Their senior team is one of the top women's team in the country and the reigning national champion. My daughters' coach, Mikica Spahic, is a key player for SFK Sarajevo 2000 and regular starter for Bosnia & Herzegovina's Women's National Team.
Recently, Coach Spahic, invited my daughters to accompany her with the National Team for their World Cup Qualifier match against Russia. My daughters had the privilege to walk in and stand with the team for the presentation of the national anthems. What an honor and experience that they will never forget!
The match was a tale of two halves. In the first half, BiH took the early lead as they looked to be the more aggressive team. However, Russia slowly settled into their pace of the game and took control of the match. In the second half, Russia showed to be the more experienced team and took complete control. While the final score of 6x1 was not the scoreline that BiH had hoped for, the first half did prove that they have plenty of reasons to be hopeful about the future of their young program.
One World Sports is excited about the opportunity to partner with Bosnia Football Federation to promote the growth of women's soccer in this country. Contact us for details about how you or your team can be involved in promoting girls' soccer and empowering young girls in Eastern Europe.