Basseterre, St. Kitts — As preparations intensify for the start of the 2026 local Women’s Football Season, the St. Kitts and Nevis Football Association (SKNFA) will host two major events this weekend aimed at promoting player welfare and advancing the development of women’s football in the Federation.
On Friday, June 5, the SKNFA, in collaboration with the St. Kitts and Nevis Red Cross, will host a First Aid and Safeguarding Training Programme for Women in Football at the National Bank Group Technical Center. The initiative is intended to equip participants with essential knowledge and practical skills to respond to emergencies and help create a safer environment for players and officials involved in the sport.
SKNFA Head of Women’s Football, Kalia Huggins, underscored the importance of the training programme and its role in supporting the growth of the women’s game.
“This workshop is basically going to be covering the four pillars of football, which is definitely going to be rendered by our (technical director) and the main focus is going to be first aid, which we have collaborated with Red Cross for them to come out and just give us the basic rundown as it relates to first aid around football itself,” she said. “The invitees are at least one female per club to come out and get knowledge surrounding safeguarding first aid.”
Ms. Huggins noted that the workshop will combine both theoretical instruction and practical exercises to ensure participants gain hands-on experience and a deeper understanding of key first aid and safeguarding principles.
“I have spoken to individuals at Red Cross and I don’t think they’re about just theory. So they’re going to be doing some hands-on stuff for the females to understand what they should do. When you learn the theoretical part of it, you have to know how to put it in action, so the workshop is definitely going to be engaging,” she said.
The activities will continue on Saturday, June 6, with a Female Football Festival at the National
Bank Group Technical Center. Open to females of all ages, the festival is designed to celebratethe women’s game while providing participants with an opportunity to apply some of the skills and knowledge gained during the previous day’s training.
According to Ms. Huggins, the festival will serve as a practical extension of the workshop experience.
“We will be encouraging them to come out on the 6th, which will be the (football) festival, so that we could see them putting whatever they have learned at the workshop into action on the 6th for the festival.”
The Female Football Festival is scheduled to begin at 2:30 p.m. and will feature activities aimed at encouraging participation, fostering community engagement, and promoting the continued growth of women’s football in St. Kitts and Nevis.
The weekend events come just one week before the official start of the 2026 Women’s Football Season, which will kick off with the President’s Cup on June 14.
-END-
