By Angu Lesley
Football Writer,kick442.com-Cameroon
A new chapter is opening for women’s football in the Southwest Region with the creation of Best Stars Academy of Limbe Girls, an initiative led by President Djoufack Saturnin as he seeks to give talented young female footballers the same opportunities that have been available to boys under his leadership over the years.
The Limbe-based project is built around a simple but ambitious idea: take the impressive performances regularly produced by girls during the Limbe Interquarters and give them a pathway into organised football. For years, the Interquarters has provided a platform for young women to showcase their talent, but Djoufack now wants to take that talent beyond local tournaments and into the official competitions organised under the Cameroon Football Federation (FECAFOOT).
In a telephone conversation a few weeks ago, Djoufack told us that “it’s time to give the women the same chance I have given young boys over the years.” His decision could prove significant for a region that has produced talented female footballers but has often lacked enough structured platforms for them to develop and compete at a higher level.
Best Stars Academy of Limbe new women’s team
Best Stars Academy Limbe Girls have already taken their first steps, playing their maiden friendly match last weekend and coming away with a victory. The result has provided an early indication of the potential within the group, although the bigger objective is to build a competitive team capable of making the transition from community football to the national structure.
Djoufack plans to register the team for FECAFOOT competitions this season, starting with the Regional Championship, which represents the second tier of women’s football in Cameroon. The project therefore offers the players an immediate competitive pathway, while giving the academy the opportunity to develop a sustainable women’s programme from the grassroots.
The road to the Guinness Super League, Cameroon’s top-flight women’s championship, will not be an overnight journey. In the current structure, it takes two successful seasons to negotiate the promotion pathway, making consistency, organisation and player development crucial to Best Stars’ ambitions. The first target, therefore, will be to establish themselves at regional level before taking the next step.
Djoufack will not be alone in this mission. His initiative places him among a growing group of football actors in the Southwest who have invested their knowledge and experience in the women’s game, including Enjema Fanny Ruth, Didier Ngane, Obi Arrey, Nketta Emma and Kingsley Etoh. Their continued involvement has helped keep women’s football alive at different levels, and Best Stars could provide another important platform for that work.
For Limbe and the wider Southwest Region, the emergence of Best Stars Academy of Limbe Girls represents more than the creation of another football team. It is an attempt to turn the raw talent visible in community competitions into a structured football project — one that can give young girls regular training, competitive football and, ultimately, a route towards the highest level of the women’s game in Cameroon.
If the project succeeds, Best Stars could become a significant part of the revival of women’s football in the Southwest, starting with the girls who have been lighting up Limbe’s Interquarters and now have an opportunity to prove themselves on the official stage.
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