The photo, which graces the cover of the Just Play brochure, beat out almost 40 other entries from areas around the world, including Africa and the Caribbean.
The competition criteria called for a photograph of participants of the sports programme conveying one of the themes – education, health, social inclusion, gender equality or disability – taken by someone associated with the programme.
Showing enthusiastic young boys and girls taking part in a Just Play session in Tonga, the winning photo is set to be enlarged, printed, framed and hung in the International Sport for Development section office in Canberra.
OFC head of social responsibility Franck Castillo says Just Play embodies each of the competition’s themes and it is a huge honour to have that recognised.
“Research from across the world shows that children whose first experience of sport is positive are much more likely to continue to practice sports throughout their lives,” Castillo says.
“Just Play is designed to provide that experience for children with motivation and encouragement from teachers and volunteers who deliver the programme – you can see that the children really like Just Play.
“And because they really like Just Play, they will be active and practice sports all their lives.”
Castillo says taking part in the Just Play programme can be compared to a person’s first experience of chocolate.
“The first time someone tastes chocolate they love it and they immediately want more – and that is how we want children to feel about sports and being active.”
He says the winning photo is a perfect illustration of children having fun.
“You don’t get the impression that they are playing sport, just that they are having fun.”
Developed by the OFC social responsibility and technical departments, Just Play is designed for children aged six to 12 and promotes physical activity while encouraging community involvement, healthy living, gender equality and disability development.
OFC has worked closely with UEFA, the Australian Government – through its agencies the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) and the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) – and Football Federation Australia to implement the programme across the Pacific over a three-year period between 2009 and 2012. It was launched in Tonga and is now also running in American Samoa, Cook Islands, Fiji, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tahiti and Vanuatu.
The confederation has also been working in New Zealand with Special Olympics on a Just Play programme for people with mental disabilities and has launched the same initiative in Samoa and Fiji.
Just Play has reached over 106,000 children – 43 per cent of whom are female – across the Pacific and trained over 2,200 teachers and volunteers.

Share