Moscato focused on taking women’s football to new heights

The future of women’s football in The Bahamas could be in a positive state with the Bahamas Football Association’s (BFA) appointment of its first director of women’s football development and coach education, Canadian Carmelina Moscato.

An experienced football professional with extensive player, coaching and management experience, Moscato said she is thrilled to join the BFA team.

“I’m here to support the growth of football. I believe that with a focus on player and coach development, we will continue to elevate the game in The Bahamas to new heights,” she said.

Motivated to embrace her new role, Moscato explained that given her background and personal goals, the opportunity resonated with her.

“I believe that for girls and women to succeed, you have to build and strengthen the game at every level. As director of women’s football, I will work with Bahamian women and sports leadership to build a strong foundation from the grassroots level up to support the growth of the sport,” she said.

BFA President Anton Sealy said: “The creation of this role is in keeping with our strategic plan for the development of women’s football in the country. We are both optimistic and grateful to have Carmelina on our leadership team. Her qualifications on the world stage speak for themselves; she brings with her a depth of experiences, including work with CONCACAF (Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football) toward the development of women’s football in the region. We will equip her with the tools and support needed to positively impact our female players at every level and execute developmental strategies to advance women’s football in the country.”

With increasing opportunities on the world stage for countries with ‘newer’ women’s programs like The Bahamas, Moscato is excited about this for girls and women playing football in The Bahamas.

“I believe that if young girls can see a real opportunity to play on an international level, their entire outlook on the potential for a career in football becomes dramatically different,” she said.

Outlining her plan of action for player and coach development, Moscato explained: “Working closely with the (BFA) Technical Director (Marc Bircham), we will refine the player pathways from grassroots to youth and senior levels, with a specific focus on the inclusion of girls and women. This will then lead to enhancing our coach development and education programs. We will leverage the CONCACAF licensing options to ensure our coaches are qualified and ultimately grow the game through the development of players and coaches and the creation of a robust succession plan for football in The Bahamas.”

Before joining the BFA, Moscato worked with Canadian Soccer Business, the commercial partners for football in Canada, as the manager of women’s professional football development. In addition to the development of that strategy, she ran a senior women’s league in Ontario, Canada. She was also a talent manager for Canadian Soccer REX from 2017-2018 and technical director for the Kleinburg Nobleton Soccer Club in Kleinburg, Ontario, Canada.

Describing her football career, Moscato shared that her initial goals were to coach at the professional league and world cup levels. Toward this end, she attained accreditation, leading to her status as a Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) ‘A’ License holder and an instructor/facilitator for CONCACAF. Her coaching experiences include Under-15 Canadian National Team Head Coach, a team that won silver at the 2016 Under-15 CONCACAF Championships. Moscato was also an assistant coach with the Canadian under-20 national teams in 2018 and again in 2020.

In addition to her Canadian experiences, Moscato worked in Australia as the director and coach of the women’s senior program for the Illawarra Stingrays with the New South Wales (NSW) National Premier Leagues (NPL) Domestic League.

Moscato’s playing experiences include participation on three FIFA (International Federation of Association Football) Women’s World Cup teams for Canada, in 2003, 2011 and 2015. She was a member of Canada’s historic bronze medal-winning soccer team at the 2012 London Olympic Games. She’s also played professionally for clubs in Italy and Sweden and ended her professional career playing for the Western Sydney Wanderers in the W-League in Australia in 2016.

Moscato is an award-nominated soccer analyst for her work as the lead analyst for Canada for The Sports Network during the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

Now, Moscato is the BFA’s Director of Women’s Football and Coach Education. She’s focused on taking women’s football in the country to new heights.

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