The children were from St Mary’s Primary School in Savalalo and close to 800 girls took part in the day’s events, which consisted of a range of football-related activities.
St Mary’s principal Sister Masela Tenisio is happy for the school to be involved in Just Play – an OFC initiative designed to promote football and healthy living for children aged between six and 12 years – and believes such occassions are highly important for the development of young people.
“We emphasise to our girls that there is not only an academic side to learning and it doesn’t have to be in the classroom,” she says.
“Children also learn outside of the classroom by playing sports where they will learn new skills which they might not be able to learn inside.”
The budding young stars took part in small-sided games throughout the day and were taught various football skills such as dribbling, shooting and passing. Several Just Play volunteers were on hand to run the programme and assist the students.
“One of the things we hope the children will get out of this is an increased passion for the sport of football,” Sister Tenisio says. “Who knows, maybe one day some of them will be able to earn a good income from playing the sport as a professional athlete and represent Samoa at international competitions.”
Football Federation Samoa CEO Fred Young is delighted with how the day went and is particularly pleased to see so many young women becoming involved in the Just Play programme.
“One of our goals is to develop football among our young girls,” he says.
“It is an excellent alternative for girls to popular sports such as netball. We see the potential and we want to encourage the young people of Samoa to take up football and make a life out of it.”
Just Play was developed by the OFC social and technical departments and is led by OFC head of social responsibility Franck Castillo, technical coordinator Colin Tuaa and Just Play consultant Vania Kenning.
It was launched in Vanuatu in April and has since been introduced in Tonga, Samoa, Tahiti, Solomon Islands and South Auckland in New Zealand. Next on the agenda are Fiji and the Cook Islands while OFC is also currently working in New Zealand with Special Olympics (NZ) on a Just Play programme for people with mental disabilities.
OFC is working closely with the Government of Australia – through its agencies the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) and the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) – and Football Federation Australia (FFA) to roll out the programme across the Pacific. The Australian Government has shown its support to the project by contributing AU$4million.
In South Auckland, Just Play is supported by OFC’s partnership with the Sir John Walker Find Your Field of Dreams Foundation, Counties Manukau Sport and Auckland Football Federation.