James Kon
American Football player Lorrie Fair Allen said Bruneians are passionate about football.
“The country has some challenges in advancing football for women and girls,” she said at a press conference hosted for the United States (US) Sports Envoy Programme adding that the young here have been allowed to engage in things they love.
Public Affairs Officer of the US Embassy Jeff Barrus said this is the first time the US State Department Sports Envoy visited Brunei and had a very positive meeting with His Royal Highness Prince Haji Al-Muhtadee Billah ibni His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah, the Crown Prince and Senior Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office on Monday.
Describing the meeting, American soccer player Amy Allman Griffin said His Royal Highness shared his passion on football and also touched on women’s football development.
Amy said; “I have travelled to a lot places including Muslim countries like Pakistan, Iraq, Afghanistan, Morocco and Algeria. Football is played everywhere in these countries.”
Barrus thanked the Football Association of Brunei Darussalam for partnering and the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports and the Ministry of Education for the support. He also introduced the footballers, Griffin and Lorrie Fair Allen, who are the US State Department’s sports envoys. Griffin has been a coach in every level of the game.
Over the past seven years, she has been the head coach of the US Deaf WNT.
In 2016, the US Deaf WNT earned gold at the US Deaf World Championship and Deaflympics in Brazil in May 2022.
She has been inducted in the US Youth soccer hall of fame and is currently the Executive Director of OL Reign Academy, an all-girls club supporting 250 girls in developing a life-long passion for football. Allen as an undergraduate at Carolina, helped the women’s soccer team to national championships in 1996, 1997 and 1999.
During the same period, she became a FIFA World Cup champion and an Olympic silver medalist in 2000. At the Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project, Allen spearheads the foundation’s grant making.
She seeks out and identifies community-based organisations in Southern Africa that engages young people to keep themselves and their peers safe from HIV and helps them apply for grants to support them in accomplishing their goals.
Griffin and Allen – both FIFA World Cup winners – will also attend a conference to discuss their week-long programme in Brunei as sports envoys. The programme will feature soccer training sessions for girls, coaching clinics, motivational talks, and a public lecture. They will also address a public lecture themed ‘Finding Success As a professional Athlete’ on June 9 at Mulia Hotel Brunei.
