Hemaloto Polovili, 16, and Soakai Vea, 15, attended the Asia Pacific Football Academy (APFA) and became the first from their country to make the leap into an elite environment from the Just Play programme in their local schools.
‘’Just Play gave us the opportunity to know more about soccer and have fun,’’ says Polovili.
‘’It taught me the basic skills of football which are passing and controlling the ball,’’ adds Vea.
In a country mostly dominated by rugby, Just Play has successfully embraced a new generation of kids into football. Slowly implemented in the schools and the communities, Just Play has become an essential tool for the children in terms sports and education.
Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) and APFA signed an agreement in February 2013 to improve the players’ development and give them a path to the professional world.
The Cooperation and Development Agreement is set to accelerate the development of elite young players from around the Oceania region following the establishment of youth academies in OFC member associations, based on the successful APFA model.
‘’This week was very successful. I have learned a lot. It was not easy at the beginning but it was a good experience. And being the first Tongan players to come that means a lot to us,’’ says Vea.
The talented pair have shown positive elements during their short stay at the academy.
‘’The week has gone well and they have easily mixed in with the other players both here at the academy and at the homestay,’’ says APFA Managing Director Andy Smith.
‘’They are physically strong, athletic players with solid technical attributes,’’
Polovili and Vea are following the path of Mickael Partodikromo from New Caledonia who was the first Pacific islander to enter APFA and recently signed at the Sheffield United Academy in England.
‘’We are very excited by the players we now see emerging from the Pacific islands’’ adds Smith.
‘’Physically strong, athletic young players with a good work attitude and a desire to get better, present us with a great platform to work with and we can teach them technical and tactical skills,’’
APFA is a New Zealand-based international class residential youth academy offering a unique football player development programme.
‘’In a week or so we will provide them with a very detailed report and programme of ‘’work-ons’’ including video footage to help them work on things back in Tonga’’ specifies Smith.
From the Just Play programme following by the Centre of Excellence in Tonga to APFA in New Zealand, Polovili and Vea have climbed the ladders to reach a level which could give them a path to Universities or Academies around the world.
‘’There are many different overseas pathways in football University sports scholarships to playing professionally in the leading Asia-Pacific and European leagues,’’
‘’I would like to think that they can pursue a real pathway in football if they work hard in the next few years,’’ concludes Smith.
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 150,000 children – 43 per cent of whom are female – across the Pacific and trained over 2,000 teachers and volunteers.