As the kick-off of the Women’s NSL approaches, Football Club Genesis is keen to show their worth at the top level of women’s football in the country.
Despite being a recently established club, plying its trade in the Port Moresby Soccer Association, FC Genesis recognises the value of providing an environment for women and girls to excel in their community through football participation.
As Club Executive Grace Yohang-Mataio explained, “At FC Genesis we believe sport is one of the most powerful platforms to promote gender equality. We want FC Genesis to provide an enabling environment for our female athletes to excel on and off the field. We’re very excited to provide these young female Papua New Guineans with the opportunity to grow and develop their talents through participating in the WNSL.”
One player who has been part of the recent growth of women’s football in PNG is FC Genesis Club Captain Yvonne Gabong. Despite her young age, the 24 year old with Madang-Manus heritage, has a wealth of experience at the international level for PNG having represented the country at youth and senior level, including being part of the Pacific Games gold medal winning senior teams of 2015 and 2019 and captaining the Under 20 national team when PNG hosted the FIFA Under 20 Women’s World Cup.
Gabong will be drawing on that experience to lead FC Genesis through their WNSL matches.
“It’s a great honour to be part of this club and be trusted with the captaincy for the upcoming season. As a female athlete I think it’s great to have a semi-professional league dedicated for women players to showcase our talent and I’d like to thank PNGFA for ensuring the season is going ahead despite the difficulties of 2020.”
“I know my teammates and I are excited to be playing and look forward to the challenge of playing against the best female players in the country.”
FC Genesis Head Coach, Percy Mataio will be relying on Gabong and her teammates to display the attacking brand of football he wants from the club. Mataio is confident in the abilities of the FC Genesis players but has tempered the club’s ambitions with a realistic outlook for their first season in the WNSL.
“I know we have the talent to do very well this season and I know the team is focused on achieving our objectives. But we also recognise that there are 13 other teams that want to do the same and so we need to make sure we are prepared and consistent with our performances. Overall, I want the players to feel they can express themselves on the field and use this opportunity to develop their skills and grow in confidence.”
“It’s an exciting time for women’s football in PNG and the region with the Women’s 2023 World Cup happening in Australia and New Zealand and I’ve stressed to the players that they have an amazing opportunity to do well and put themselves in the picture to create history by being part of the women’s national team to pursue the dream of being the first senior team to take part in a World Cup.” Mataio commented.
Getting FC Genesis into the WNSL was a dream in itself for the club and Yohang-Mataio is grateful for the support they have received from the club’s sole sponsor so far, Budget Rent-a-Car.
“We are extremely grateful to Budget for coming on board this season and we’re proud to display the Budget logo on our uniforms, which their sponsorship helped pay for.”
“Running the club for the entirety of the season requires a lot of different outlays and so we are open to forming additional partnerships with organisations that share our aspirations. If there are interested parties that want to be part of what FC Genesis is doing, they can email fcgenesis1@gmail.com or contact the club though our Facebook page” Yohang-Mataio explained.
