Introduction to the sport through training and practice sessions were the focal point of the first three Saturdays while the last three will be concentrated on exposing the 200 young athletes to a competitive atmosphere.
December 7 is the scheduled last day for the ongoing event that is otherwise known as the feeder program. It targets the elementary schools that are directly feeding the four public high schools — Faga’itua, Leone Samoana & Tafuna.
“This program is awesome,” exclaimed Faga’itua teacher and coach, Vaimili Tyrell.
“You can tell the kids are all having a great time and adding to its specialness is the bringing together all the kids from the east and western districts.
“And with the (FFAS) support, you can’t get any better than that.”
Tyrell normally coaches football and volleyball but has enjoyed being a soccer coach in his first stint.
“I would definitely love to sign up for this again next year and help out in coaching our school’s soccer teams,” he said.
“What we were trying to do and accomplish, and I believe that midway through the program we have accomplished, is to bring out the better elementary players in order to prep them for high school,” explained the head of ASHSAA’s Athletics Department, Tumua Matu’u.
“Just seeing the talent of these kids is just great,” added Matu’u. “This is our pilot program for the Junior division which will be featured regularly by ASHSAA alongside the junior varsity and varsity divisions.”
There are three divisions in the tournament — Boys A, Boys B and a Girls group. Trophies and other awards will be handed out on December 7.
“At the end of each week the joy that these kids show out there on the field makes our work all the more worth it,” said FFAS CEO Tavita Taumua.
“With public elementary school children being the main targets of this program, it will only help us to produce good, quality players for the future of our association, clubs and high school teams.”