“Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying and sacrifice, but most of all love of what you are doing or learning to do.”
This is an old adage made famous by former Brazil international Pele which the technical department have taken on as a means to motivate the young players who attend the recently introduced Centre of Development.
The department selected the top U-12 boys and girls who took part in the recent All-Star Youth representative league to form the first intake of players at the centre.
The centre has been designed by FFS as a way of developing and maintaining players who have shown potential in football and who could go on to become national representatives.
Last Tuesday the first session of the programme was held with 40 playerss, 25 boys and 15 girls, attending their first training with the FFS’s top youth coaches. The players will attend trainings every Tuesday and Thursday, where they will receive more specialised training than what they have been exposed to at club level – giving them their first taste of representative or elite level football.
OFC coach mentor for Samoa Simon Toselii has been intstrumental in assisting the FFS technical department in their preparations for the opening of the centre. He has also run several workshops for the centre’s coaches, in conjunction with FFS, as they get ready for the new challenge of developing elite youth players.
“Producing outstanding players needs excellent coaches who have an understanding at the highest technical level,” Toselli says.
FFS CEO Sarai Bareman is pleased the federation is able to offer a pathway to young players who aspire to represent their country.
“The Centre of Development is a key component in the FFS Technical Strategy which is primarily focused on the development of youth players. It constitutes the second step in the elite or talented player pathway and what we hope is that we will see these children representing Samoa in the future,” Bareman says.
“The Centre of Development is also a key step in the development pathway of our coaches. It is absolutely essential that we produce top levle coaches with strong technical skills to develop our players.
“We cannot expect greatness from our players without the right coaches to train them and get them to the top level.”
The Centre of Development will continue until the next football season begins in September this year.
For more on Samoan football go to www.footballsamoa.ws

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