For Tarewa FC the the experience of the OFC Youth Festival is more important than the results.

Hailing from the small island of Kiribati,with a population of 90,000 the opportunity to travel to New Caledonia for a football tournament amongst nine different countries was too good to pass up.

Only one player from the Tarewa squad had ever been outside the country and Coach Tuanaku Boutu said the side was having an interesting time tryin to adapt to their new environment.

"It is very different here in Noumea to our home. A lot of our players are struggling with the difference in climate because we are used to it being very hot and the players aren’t used to the colder conditions."

On match day one Tarewa lost to AS Temanava (TAH), Wabag District (PNG) and Auckland FC (NZL) before scoring an inspiring 1-0 victory over Hienghene Sport FC (NCL).

Boutu noted that their close 1-0 loss to Auckland was a real turning point in the motivation and drive of his side and was very happy with the way his side battled against their more experienced opponents.

"We didn’t give Auckland any room and my guys played their hearts out, I was really proud," he said.

While Womans football has been developing in Kiribati over the past four years there is no formal girls league and so when it came time to choose the required female players Boutu didn’t know where to turn.

Boutu said he found some willing to give football a try and though they had never played before were doing a fantastic job for his side.

Boutu said that meeting and mixing with the players of France ’98 last night after the culutural day was a very special moment for Tarawa.

"In Kiribati TV is very new, and only really been around for two years. Only the wealthy families have it so most of us don’t get soccer on TV. But my guys have seen videos of Zidane and Karembeu and they were so excited about this trip and the prospect of seeing them."

Boutu said that it is tough to develop footballers in Kiribati because by the time the players  turn 20, they need to turn providers for their families and there isn’t enough time to devote to football.

"But for the young ones, football is very important and this tournament is great because they get to see the world."

We are now an associate member of OFC and will be trying to attend as many tournaments as possible."

photos by Marc Peretic Wilson