That is why this month’s Tonga U-15 tour of Auckland is so valuable to the game at all levels.
Two squads made up of 25 boys and 20 girls, some aged as young as 13, are in the middle of a two-week development trip to Auckland where the focus is on exposing them to a whole new approach to the game.
The teams organised four matches each against local school and club sides, with training sessions led by Auckland-based Tonga Football Association technical advisor Phillip Parker taking place on the days in between.
Tour co-ordinator and TFA referee development officer Tevita Vea says it has a vital role to play in what he hopes will be an overall shift in Tongan football.
“I do believe that in Tonga we have to change the philosophy of how we run football, that is how I look at it, but it has to start at the young age,” he says.
“With the kids in Tonga we need to build a better training programme at the grassroots level, and we want to give these kids about four or five years of coming here and training.
“We need consistency of training, getting these kids out there on the field three or four times a week.
“The idea is that we spend about 70 or 80 per cent of our time here in New Zealand based in coaching clinics.
“This is the platform now.”
Coaching sessions delivered by Parker aim to help players view the game from a New Zealand perspective.
“The principles of play are a big part of it, looking at different aspects of the game like possession and counter-attacking,” Parker said.
“This group of Tongan boys and girls are really open to knowledge and keen to apply what we are teaching them.
“For Tonga it’s all about understanding of the game and the key elements.
“Things like how and when to utilise speed on and off the ball, because they are almost all very quick, but there are big differences in fitness levels.
“They are so keen and committed that they go 100 miles an hour for as long as they can and then when they run out of fuel that’s it.
“The way I see it in Oceania there are three tiers and Tonga is one of the nations in the bottom one.
“But if we can break it down for them at youth level, and persevere with it, I think there will be a generation with the skill and preparation to do something special and break out of the bottom tier.”
The learning opportunities on the trip aren’t limited to the players either, with the chance to study New Zealand-based coaches and technical advisors seen as a boost for team staff.
TFA executive member Fetu’u Vea, who is managing the boys’ team on the tour, said opportunities to work alongside counterparts with experience at higher levels of the game are hard to come by in Tonga.
“We are here to learn and pick up things from here, we have got to start young and keep it through to the top,” he says.
“That’s the only way we are going to improve the skills and techniques.
“I believe the levels here in New Zealand are very high, and the skills and techniques are what we need.
“In Tonga we have a shortage of staff like that. The training of our staff and players is crucial.”
The teams complete their trip and head back to Tonga on 25 September.

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