The Papua New Guinea National Junior Futsal Tournament has been organised and hosted by the Papua New Guinea Sports Commission in collaboration with Papua New Guinea Football Association.
PNGFA president Mr. David Chung welcomed participating teams and said as Futsal is very new to Papua New Guinea it was logical to start at youth level.
David Chung said PNGFA would commit more time and resources to the youth football.
The tournament began on Monday 25th September with teams and players taking time to learn the rules and nuances of Futsal. The process was going well and considered positive.
The PNGFA provided a technical briefing for referees and the response to this had also gone well.
The Lae-hosted tournament is being played in different different locations and provides easier access for all the competitions 36 participating teams of primary school age group. The age groups participating in this tournament are U15 boys, U14 girls, U13 Boys and U12 Girls.
The locations are Sir Ignatius Kilage Stadium, St. Paul’s Primary School Field, Markham Road Primary School Field and Bugandi Secondary School fields.
Most of the teams participating in the tournament are from within the Morobe province except for Madang.
Promotion of the tournament was nationwide but participation was not as high as desired due to the high costs involved in transport, accomodation and meals.
Story courtesy of Thomas Kambi, PNGFA