The FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Dominican Republic 2024 appears to have marked a turning point for both football in the Dominican Republic and for their coach, Betzaida Ubri.

“It was definitely something positive for us, I feel like we made the most of the opportunity,” Ubri, who made the step up to take charge of the U-20 and senior women’s teams in December, tells Inside FIFA. “Today we look at football in a completely different way. We knew that in order to make the most of the impact of the World Cup, we had to continue working hard and improve in all departments.”

There are several levels to this impact, some more visible than others. For example, the Dominican Republic’s third and final group match against Nigeria attracted a record 13,535 fans to the Félix Sánchez de Santo Domingo stadium, which set a new attendance record for a Dominican Republic national team match, both in the men’s and women’s game.

But Ubri, who started playing football when she was at school and ended up choosing it over more popular sports in the country such as basketball, volleyball and athletics, analyses some of the other less visible aspects that they have benefitted from by hosting the competition.

“The younger girls, aged 11, 12 and 13, are now very motivated and they’re all dreaming of one day being a part of it, of representing and playing for their country. The national team players became role models and a source of motivation and inspiration for those who want to get involved with football. But also for all those women who can get involved in sport from other places. They all saw that it was achievable.”

Ubri was impressed by the 10 women’s football events held across the country as part of the FIFA Women’s Football Promotion Campaign, which attracted a total of 1,000 girls. She also highlighted the training that FIFA provided for the 40 coaches who took part in these events.

“These events were a huge success. They provided fantastic opportunities for development and they were a place for girls to meet up and to show off their skills and improve their game. The same goes for the coaches who took part in the course. This is because they don’t have a competition to showcase their skills, so being able to do it at these types of events motivates them. The message is ‘keep working hard’.”

Ubri is speaking from experience. A former striker, she was capped 25 times for her country and is the team’s all-time top scorer with 18 goals to her name. She had not yet hung up her boots when, in 2018, the Association asked her to work with the women’s youth teams - a challenge she accepted and quickly grew to love.

That is why, in 2021, when she was officially appointed head coach of the U-14 team, she finally decided to call time on her playing career and focus on becoming a coach. “That is where the process of the team that took part in last year’s tournament began,” she says.

She praised the decision to make the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup an annual event with 24 teams instead of 16, which will kick in from this year onwards. “It allows us to work twice as hard: more preparation, more planning, more players, more coaches. It’s important for us to continue to compete at a high level and to have our sights set on qualifying for another World Cup. Continuity and consistency are key.”

This includes club football. Ubri is fully aware that in order to make this project a success, it is essential to create competitive leagues. The Association is also counting on FIFA’s support through the FIFA Women’s Football Development Programme.

“We don’t have an adult league yet, but we’ve created various youth leagues,” she continued “We’re also working on a project to identify and develop talent from an early age, and to create regional teams with the aim of discovering the future of women’s football in the country.”

And what about the adults? “Thanks to the World Cup, the men’s professional league decided to help set up a women’s league, but we don’t have a start date yet. It’ll be very important to give the players some kind of rhythm and structure,” says Ubri, who is also a physical education teacher.

In this context, Ubri hopes to continue to make the most of the opportunities afforded to her and her players as a result of the infrastructural improvements. On the one hand, the World Cup has left its mark on the venues in Santo Domingo and Santiago de los Caballeros, which have benefitted from two stadium renovations, improved pitches and 10 renovated training pitches.

On the other hand, there are projects the Association is heading up at its High Performance Centre in San Cristobal with the support of the FIFA Forward programme. Nearly USD 4.8m will be invested in this site, such as the construction of two (2) natural grass football pitches, the complete renovation of an existing building, among others that are part of a vast infrastructure master plan, which will directly benefit the various national teams.

All this will, of course, have a positive impact on the senior team, which is now headed up by Ubri and who has clear goals for the FIFA Women's World Cup Brazil 2027™. “We’re committed to the process of building a competitive team. It’s crucial for us to play together in as many FIFA matches as we possibly can. That way we can build a solid team identity and team chemistry and then we can start focusing on the qualifiers.”