Cameroon’s women’s soccer federation, the “Fédération Camerounaise de Football”, has selected Surrey for its upcoming training camp in preparation for the Women’s FIFA World Cup.

Being hosted in cities across Canada this summer, the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup commences in Edmonton on June 6 and wraps up with its final game in Vancouver on July 5. The team arrived in Surrey Friday to begin their camp.

The Cameroon team chose Surrey as its training base during the lead-up to the FIFA tournament because of its excellent sport facilities and the similarity between Surrey’s artificial turf fields and those at BC Place. Cameroon athletes will train in Surrey May 15 to June 3.

“On behalf of City of Surrey council, I would like to extend a warm welcome to the Cameroon team,” said Surrey Mayor Linda Hepner. “The city has invested in world-class sporting facilities in Surrey to attract events at a national and international level. These events bring economic benefits to our local businesses and also foster community spirit through attendance by residents and visitors alike.”

Coun. Bruce Hayne, chair of the Parks, Recreation and Sports Tourism Committee, noted 2015 has been declared “The Year of Women in Sport” in Surrey.

“Welcoming the Cameroon team to our community is therefore an exciting and fitting event,” Hayne said.

Sport Surrey, an organization co-managed by the city and Tourism Surrey for the purpose of facilitating the hosting of competitive sporting events, has been working directly with the African nation on camp preparations, confirming training camp facilities and planning a series of exhibition games for the community.

The first exhibition game will be Monday, May 18 at 6:30 p.m. at South Surrey Athletic Park against a local team from Coastal FC.

“Surrey has some of the finest outdoor recreational facilities anywhere in Metro Vancouver which create excellent venues for fostering world-class athletic performances,” said Cathy James, executive director, Tourism Surrey. “Hosting Cameroon’s athletes puts Surrey on the map as an international sport hosting destination.”

The Cameroon women’s team, 53 in the FIFA rankings, will play their first FIFA Women’s World Cup game at BC Place Stadium on Monday, June 8 against Ecuador.