OFC News

OFC, Auckland: The 2004 OFC Indigenous Senior License Coaching course was completed last Friday in Auckland, New Zealand with final assessments revealing improved results across the board from the Level One course held last December.

Coaching instructor, Alan Gillett, was pleased with the two week effort by the eighteen course participants who came from eight of the nine member island national associations.

"There was a notable improvement from the last course and the senior coaches who passed level one last December have really excelled to another level," said Gillett.

"Oceania now has a solid nucleus from which to work from when the OFC sets up its technical department in the near future."

According to first time participant Francis Moiyap of Papua New Guinea, he now feels better equipped to deal with coaching national teams and has now set higher targets for himself. Moiyap is a veteran international famous for scoring the winning goal in his country's most famous victory, a 1-0 win over New Zealand in 1997.

"It is a career I want to seriously do well in after being a player for my country for many years," he said.

"I have had experience taking the national women's team to the South Pacific Games and World Cup qualifiers last year, but after attending this course, I now have a taste of what is required to become a better coach thanks to this initiative from the OFC supported by the Football Association in England."

PHOTO CAPTION:

PARTICIPANTS IN THE 2004 OFC INDIGENOUS SENIOR LICENSE COACHING LEVEL 1 & 2 COURSES, 12-25 JUNE 2004, AUCKLAND NEW ZEALAND:

Coaches: Back row (L-R): Eddie Ngava (Solomon Islands), Alwyn Job (Vanuatu), Jerry Epa (Samoa), Francis Moiyap (PNG), Kilifi Uele (Tonga), Tunoa Lui (American Samoa), Raymond Newnham (Cook Islands), Wilson August (Vanuatu), Allan Jasoni (Fiji), Lambert Norman (Fiji), R.D Sharman (Fiji), Ludwig Peka (PNG) / Front row (L-R) Lui Muavesi (Tonga), Mataiasi Vave (Solomon Islands), Ioane Kaio (American Samoa), Alan Gillett (Course Instructor, England), Malo Vaga (Samoa), Rouruina Henry (Cook Islands), Noel Wagapu (Solomon Islands).

HONIARA: Honiara has won the National Under 20 tournament after defeating former champions Makira 2-0 in the grand final witnessed by about 5,000 spectators at Lawson Tama Stadium last weekend. The win ended the capital city's long losing streak at youth level.

Team coach and former national soccer player, Timothy Inifiri was the happiest man following their success. He says that for a long time youth teams representing Honiara city always fell short of achieving their goal.

It was an upset win for Honiara faced against the heavy favourites and defending champion Makira who many predicated would take out the silverware. Makira's form during the pool games suggested they would be too powerful for the capital lads, but the underdogs rose to the occasion.

Makira started the stronger team forcing Honiara custodian John Morgan to pull off some stunning saves early on. Morgan's heroics inspired his team to hold on and weather the early onslaught. Having settled into the game, Honiara began to penetrate Makira's defence against the run of play scoring the game's first goal through student Godwin Bebeu.

Makira, stung into action, mounted wave after wave of attack but Honiara were able to hold on till the half-time break. In the second stanza, Makira continued to make most of the play camping in Honiara's half for long periods but were unable to find the back of the net from numerous shots on goal. Again Morgan was to the fore thwarting many golden chances presented to the Makira forwards.

Honiara Coach Inifiri then made an intelligent substitution bringing in Benjamin Totori and his energy and attacking zeal proved a masterstroke as he finished off a brilliant Honiara counter-attack with clinical precision to extend his side's lead to 2-0.

Inifiri admitted after the match that his tactical substitution had paid off. He and another former national player turned coach - Jacob Moli spent three weeks with the players shaping them up for this competition and the win meant a lot to them.

"Our victory came about because of the boys' good discipline and the hard work of my assistant Moli," he added.

Meanwhile, Temotu came third in the competition after Western Province withdrawal.

Malaita won the Fair play trophy while Totori bagged the golden boot award as top goal scorer for the tournament with eight to his name.

Visit the Solomon Islands Football Federation website linked to the homepage for extensive coverage of the Solomon Islands national Under 20 champs

SUVA: Fijian league frontrunners Ba increased the gap on the rest of the super-premier teams after a solid 2-1 win over a gutsy Navua team last weekend. In other results, Labasa fought out an entertaining 2-2 draw at home against Nadroga.

In other news, the Fiji Football Association has unveiled the draws and new format for the upcoming Battle of the Giants tournament at the end of July.

Ba is the top seed in one of two pools of the Battle of the Giants Tournament which will be hosted at Govind Park, Ba. Ba is with Lautoka, Suva, Navua and Tavua in one pool whilst the second pool has Rewa, Nadi, Nasinu, Labasa and Nadroga.

The BOG tournament will be held over two weekends to lessen the load on players with the first weekend of action from 24-25 July and the final games played on 31 July-1 August.

SUVA: The Fijian national league will resume this weekend after a long layoff due to the OFC Nations Cup and World Cup qualifiers then the Fiji FACT tournament last week. And all eyes will be on Ba as they look to extend their lead in the national league against Navua this weekend.

The men in black have been in winning form this year taking out the Champ of Champions title at the start of the year, a powerful lead in the national league then the Fiji FACT title last week.

Spurred on by last year's disappointing finale where they were pipped of the national league title in the final round after a protest by the Olympians, Ba is on a mission to collect all the silverware in 2004 and has its focus on extending its lead in the national league with an eye also on the upcoming Fiji Battle of the Giants tournament it is hosting next month.

Ba currently has a six point lead over the second placed Lautoka, who have been a revitalised side this year with the introduction of some exciting young talent including Osea Vakatalesau who was wooed over from Ba in pre-season.

Lautoka Coach Lambert Norman who is in Auckland, New Zealand for the OFC Senior License Indigenous Coaching Course is returning early to Fiji for his team's important clash with Suva this weekend. Lautoka needs a win to stay close to Ba but Suva will be a tough opponent going by their winning form at the Fiji FACT.

Labasa hosts Nadroga at Subrail Park this weekend, in what is expected to be a thriller. Nadi fronts up Nasinu at Prince Charles Park in the other fixture.

Fiji National League - Points Ladder

Team Points

Ba 25

Lautoka 18

Suva 15

Navua 14

Nasinu 14

Rewa 13

Nadi 10

Tavua 5

Labasa 4

Nadroga 0

* Some teams have a game in hand

nzsoccer.co.nz

NEW ZEALAND SOCCER PRESS CONFERENCE

23rd JUNE 2004

Board Chairman

The Board of NZS today voted Chairman John Morris to the position for a further two year term. New Zealand Soccer is honoured to have such a reputable person with a strong background in the game and standing in the business and education communities. NZS looks forward to John Morris continued commitment and dedication to the game alongside an extremely capable Board of Directors.

International Programme

The Board has today approved the following programme of international activity. Specific detail will follow in many cases but the broad programme has been outlined and is in line with the long term strategy of success at international level for men, women and age group teams.

It is the intention of New Zealand Soccer to have the All Whites back on the playing field as soon as is practical in financially viable fixtures.

Tri-Series

A Tri-Series is under continued investigation with Australian and South Korea preferred participants. NZS is seeking assistance from Nike given all three countries are Nike linked.

The immediate focus beyond 2004 is the qualifying campaigns for both U17 and U20 men's World Cup Qualifying Tournaments.

BALANCE OF 2004

Team

* 2004 Possible Senior Women's National Team activity

* 2004 Possible U20 Friendly International - Chile

* 2004 Secondary Schools U19 Initiative

* 2004 U16 Friendly International - Australia

Development

* NATIONAL LEAGUE PLACEMENTS

* Player Profiling

* 2004 Senior Women Development Sessions

* 2004 Goalkeeping Development Sessions Male & Female

* 2004 U17 Development Sessions

2005

Team

* 2005 Possible Senior Women's National Team activity

* 2005 Possible Senior Men's National Team (if financially viable)

* 2005 Secondary Schools U19 Initiative

* 2005 Preparation & U17 World Qualifying Tournament

* 2005 Preparation & U20 World Qualifying Tournament

* 2005 U15 Development Pool

Development

* Player Profiling

* 2005 Senior Women Development Sessions

* 2005 U17 Development Sessions

* 2005 Goalkeeping Development Sessions Male & Female

2006

Team

* 2006 Possible Women's Senior National Team activity

* 2006 Possible Senior Men's National Team activity

* 2006 Secondary Schools U19 Initiative

* 2006 Preparation & U19 Women's Qualifying Tournament

* 2006 U15 Development Pool

Development

* Player Profiling

* 2006 Senior Women Development Sessions

* 2006 U17 Development Sessions

* 2006 Goalkeeping Development Sessions Male & Female

* National Centre

All Whites Head Coach

The Board has today agreed to the parameters of a review of the position of All Whites Head Coach. The role is to be a fulltime one and will include responsibility for the Men's Olympic (U23) Team.

Scouting

There will be an increased focus on an effective scouting network and system to benefit all international team selections. That scouting network will be formulated in the context of the review of the Head Coach position to ensure that any player of New Zealand origin, of any age, regardless of gender and playing anywhere in the world is identified and profiled.

A full job description will be formulated in the next two weeks and the role advertised extensively before an appointment is made.

Ryan Nelsen

The Board has today discussed recent comments made by All Whites captain Ryan Nelsen with regards the recent Nations Cup campaign and in particular the role of the management team.

The Board of New Zealand Soccer expressed its disappointment with the content of those comments and the manner in which they were made to the media without prior discussion with New Zealand Soccer.

Further to this, the Board supported the earlier request that a meeting of the Board Chairman, NZS CEO and Ryan Nelsen to discuss the matter in more detail. That request has already been made to Nelsen.

Football Kingz

The Board of NZS today agreed upon and signed a Memorandum of Understanding between themselves and the Football Kingz. That document will remain confidential until after further discussion but outlines the future direction of the Football Kingz in the context of a formal relationship with New Zealand Soccer.

New Zealand Soccer and the Football Kingz are also in possession of the full criteria document for entry to the Australian NSL and continue to work towards a strong entry to the new competition in 2005.

New National League

The new competition is on track for an October 16th kick off. All 8 Franchises have appointed key personnel from management to board to coaching roles. Player recruitment also is well underway in many areas.

The position of National League Commissioner was recently advertised and a recruitment process undertaken. New Zealand Soccer is pleased today to confirm the appointment of Mr. Glyn Taylor to the role of National League Commissioner. Mr. Taylor will commence on June 28th.

Sponsorship discussions have concluded with various potential partners, including naming rights partners with announcements expected in the short term.

Media partners, team strips, league draw, referees panel and other information will be released at the Competition Launch in early September.

Ole Madrids has filed action in the High Court and East Auckland has had the decision of the NZS Appeals Committee communicated to them. Both cases are subject to insurance claims by New Zealand Soccer and are subsequently being handled directly by the insurer.

Women's Action Group

New Zealand Soccer has been advised by the Human Rights Commission that a complaint has been laid by a women's action group. As of today New Zealand Soccer is still awaiting written documentation pertaining to that complaint and will take legal advice as to our obligations.

New Zealand Soccer strongly rejects any claims of discrimination based on gender and can point to many initiatives introduced in the past 2 years impacting directly on the development of women's football.

* Small Whites grass roots programme, featuring NZ Women's International Maia Jackman in an ambassadorial role.

* International Player Development Programme

* National / Regional Academies

* Coaching and Education Scheme, targeting women in key areas such as Elite Player Elite Coach

* National Women's League (Federation based)

* American University placement - a formal policy designed to assist NZ players to further their education and playing careers. Hayley Moorwood and Priscilla Duncan are two young players already to benefit with scholarships to American Colleges'.

* International Experience - in line with youth development age group teams will tour internationally in order for players to gain experience and be better prepared for FIFA competitions at a later age. 2003 saw an U16 Girls team tour Australia.

* National Team Development - training sessions every Monday night for northern based national team players and on the first Monday of each month for all NZ based national squad players and coaching staff.

Wynton Rufer

The Board has today approved an ambassadorial role for Wynton Rufer. This role will be offered to Wynton immediately and will complement existing NZS Technical Department policy in areas such as:

* International match contacts

* Promotion of NZS at age group level tournaments

* Placing of young players for international experience

* Annual planning discussion

NOUMEA: New Caledonia club champions Magenta flies to Tahiti this weekend to play Tahitian champion Manu Ura for the Dom-Tom Cup series. Magenta is the reigning title-holder having beaten AS Pirae last year in Noumea - the first time a New Caledonian team had beaten a Tahiti team in this annual fixture.

After sweeping all before them in the recently completed 2003-04 season, Magenta gets a chance to defend their title but this time will have to do without the home advantage. The pride of the Tahitians was hurt last year and Manu Ura will be out to bring the title back to Tahiti over the two matches to be played on 29 June and 1 July in Papeete.

The winner of the series will travel to France for the Dom-Tom Cup final in Paris later this year.

*In other news, Magenta will play Mont Dore in the New Caledonia Cup final on 10 July. Magenta qualified for the final after beating RS Koumac 3-1 in last weekend's semi-finals while Mont-Dore beat JS Baco 1-0.

PORT MORESBY: The Papua New Guinea Football Association has targeted the two OFC youth tournaments next year as important dates and have begun their preparations in earnest with a planned national youth championship next month.

The PNGFA confirmed yesterday that a combined Under 19 and Under 23 men's championship will take place in Goroka from 5-9 July 2004. The purpose of the tournaments will be to identify players for Papua New Guinea's national squads for the 2005 OFC Under 20 and OFC Under 17 Qualifying Tournaments set for January and March 2005 respectively.

According to PNGFA acting operations manager John Wesley, six centres have so far confirmed their participation at the tournament in Goroka. The associations are Hekari, New Britain Palm Oil, Wau, Tabubil, Madang and hosts Goroka.

He added that high profile soccer associations Port Moresby, LFA and Lahi have yet to indicate their participation.

Wesley also confirmed the last PNGFA sanctioned tournament for this year will be the national men and women club championships in Lae from September 13-18. The winner of the men's leg will be eligible to take part in the OFC club championships in Tahiti next year in April.

ASA: 30 year old Cheryl Salisbury will lead a new-look Australian Women's Football Team to Athens in August. Only four members of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Team remain, Dianne Alagich, Heather Garriock, Salisbury and Sacha Wainwright.

14 first-timers are bound for Athens but Salisbury is convinced talent and raw enthusiasm will take the Team a long way.

"The rookies have an enthusiasm that is just so raw and untapped and that enthusiasm can provide extraordinary results"

Salisbury believes the injection of new talent shows just how far the Women's game has progressed in Australia over the past four years.

"We have come a long way. The young players that are in the Team now were not even under consideration for the Sydney Games. It just shows how much the game is progressing" she said.

The Australian Olympic Committee selected the following athletes today:

Dianne Alagich (subject to fitness test)

Melissa Barbieri

Rhian Davies

Lisa De Vanna

Gillian Foster

Heather Garriock

Tal Karp

Cassandra Kell

Selin Kuralay

Kylie Ledbrook

Joanne Peters

Karla Reuter

Cheryl Salisbury (subject to fitness test)

Sally Shipard

Thea Slatyer

Danielle Small

Sacha Wainwright

Sarah Walsh

Salisbury and Dianne Alagich are subject to fitness tests. Salisbury has been troubled by an on-going knee injury but is confident of playing at the Games.

"I'll be out there without a doubt" she said.

Australia finished 7th of 16 at the Sydney 2000 Games recording two losses and a draw during the competition.

"We are all very excited about going to Athens and looking forward to doing well" Salisbury said.

OFC, Auckland: Australia's pacific island contingent grew by three more last weekend, when Solomon Islanders Joel Konofilia, Jack Samani and Paul Usumae made their debuts with Queensland Premier League outfit the Brisbane Wolves.

The Solomons trio did not disappoint in their first outing, with Usumae netting the Wolves match winner in a 2-1 win against Mitchelton having come off the bench in the second half.

Usumae, who was a surprise omission from Alan Gillett's Solomons squad that stunned Oceania in Adelaide, was joined on the substitutes bench by Samani, who has been a regular in the Solomons nine World Cup qualifying matches thus far.

Fellow countryman Konofilia played the whole ninety minutes for the Wolves and was the provider for Brisbane's first goal in a match that has reaffirmed the Wolves title ambitions.

Opposing the Solomons were Vanuatuan pair Etienne Mermer and Richard Iwai, with the latter scoring Mitchelton's only goal in the first half.

The loss leaves Mitchelton in fourth spot on the QPL ladder, 22 points behind superpowers the Queensland Lions, who have all but sealed the minor premiership with eight rounds remaining.

Also in Queensland, Taringa Rovers' Papua New Guinean midfielder Alex Davani was an absentee from his sides 2-0 loss at the hands of Eastern Suburbs due to a knee injury that will sideline the Melanesian youngster for up to two more weeks.

Taringa sit in tenth spot following their loss at the weekend and will be hoping for a return to their winning ways when they take on Pine Rivers United away from home this Sunday.

In Queensland's Metro 1 League, Fijian midfielder Raj Kumar was again a part of the Darra Lions juggernaut that has seen the league giants go each one of their matches this season without conceding a loss.

The Lions disposed of the Brisbane Wolves 5-0, which leaves Kumar's team in first place after 14 rounds, 12 points clear of their nearest competitors.

There was also good news for Victoria's pacific party, especially Solomon Islander Henry Fa'arodo who was apart of Fawkner's most impressive win of their 2004 campaign, a 5-0 thrashing of finals contenders St. Albans away from home.

Although not amongst the scorers, Fa'arodo played a key role in the Blues second consecutive win that has given the proud club some breathing space as the dogfight to avoid relegation heats up.

At the other end of the table, the Preston Lions gave their title claims a boost with a crucial 2-1 win over the Essendon Royals at home on Sunday.

Samoan goalkeeper Pasi Schwalger was in goals for the Lions throughout the ninety minutes and will be keenly anticipating Preston's top of the table clash away to the Bulleen Zebras next week.

In Newcastle, Fijian Esala Masi again fronted for a full game for South Cardiff in the Northern New South Wales Premier League, only to see his side go done 3-1 to Highfields Azzuri away from home.

Worryingly, the Gunners sit nine points adrift of fourth spot after ten rounds and will need to post vital wins against top two teams Edgeworth Eagles and Hamilton Olympic in the coming weeks if they are to revive their flagging finals ambitions. - By Ben Coonan - Australian Correspondent

OFC, Auckland: English Coaching Instructor, Alan Gillett, has praised the attitude of the eighteen coaches attending the 2004 OFC Indigenous Senior Coaching License courses, being held at the OFC Academy in Auckland, New Zealand.

"The coaches have been excellent so far and gone way beyond my expectations," said Gillett.

"Since the first course was held in Auckland last December, we have modified the way the content has been delivered which is more user-friendly and the response has been positive."

The courses, organised by the Oceania Football Confederation with technical assistance provided by the Football Association (England), will be completed by this Friday, 25 June 2004.

Although the participants were initially broken into two groups - those sitting either the Level 1 or the Level 2 certificate - all coaches have been working together under a "buddying system" which has worked wonders, according to Mr Gillett.

According to Gillett, the coaches are thriving under the mentoring structure in place which sees those coaches that attended and passed last year's course, working in pairs with the new participants and other coaches re-sitting level 1.

The emphasis is now more on communication and interaction with practical solutions used more to create a better understanding of coaching concepts, rather than relying almost entirely on a classroom setting. The participants have been following a set programme devised by Gillett which best suits their needs and the scenarios they are familiar with back in their home islands.

The first week focussed solely on the general principles of play, attacking/defending and a basic background of how and what to coach. This week the focus was more on team settings and team play which is relevant to the majority of the participants who are mostly involved in training or coaching their national teams back in their countries.

By the completion of the courses, Gillett hopes the participants will be armed with enough knowledge which will enable them to tutor junior coaching license courses in their own countries. The participants progressing on from Level 2 will have reached a level where they can tutor the first level of the Senior Coaching License that OFC plans to implement after its technical department is in place in the near future. Gillett is making his own recommendations for the OFC Senior Coaching Licenses, with input also coming from other technical experts.

Acting OFC General Secretary, Tai Nicholas, was praiseworthy of Gillett and the FA for their valuable assistance in the provision of technical assistance and resources which he believed will benefit the confederation in the long-term.

"We are greatly indebted to the FA and Alan and no doubt the participants will return home to pass on the knowledge they have attained to a new generation of coaches in the islands," he said.