Oceania Football Confederation’s (OFC) ‘Just Play’ football initiative has etched its mark in the Cook Islands as an annual event with the six-week programme reaching its 2009 conclusion this week.
Attracting around 200 children between the ages of five and 13 years on Saturdays, the response has overwhelmed the hosts, participants and parents who had been turning up at the Cook Islands Football Association’s (CIFA) Sports Academy.
The programme is actually on a two year pilot but after proving so popular this year many participants in Rarotonga are now requesting that the national soccer body makes Just Play an annual event.
CIFA has been praised by the public and community leaders for the programme which encourages good eating habits, physical activity, and increased enjoyment of football through technical development.
Last Saturday, members of the CIFA Executive Board were at the academy to mark Just Play’s 2009 success with a cook sausage sizzles for the youngsters and parents as they gathered feedback from the football community.
CIFA President Lee Harmon said the programme has truly taken off in the Cook Islands “not only for the young ones but also with their parents who tagged along to watch them play”.
“Of course CIFA is committed to building the capacities of our communities with football and this is one of the many programmes we are working on,” says Harmon.
“In CIFA we have committed team of staff and board members. This was evident when they would turn up on Saturdays to support this Just Play football programme. While the young ones were playing, the staff and board members were collecting balls for them, filling water containers and on the last day they all cooked for the participants, Harmon said as he acknowledged the importance of team work off the pitch as well as on it.
Oceania Football Confederation Head of Technical Development, Jim Selby visited the Cook Islands in July to oversee the implementation and progress of the project that he personally designed.
CIFA Media