The pair will work alongside Technical Director Patrick Jacquemet, Head of Education and Training Programme Didier Chambaron and Player Development Officer Daniel Shirley as OFC programmes aimed at players, coaches, referees and medical personnel continue to increase.
Demaine has joined as the new Women’s Development Officer and replaces Emmie Sope, who remains at OFC to take on a new challenge as the Technical Coordinator for Just Play, the confederation’s FIFA-approved grassroots programme that promotes physical activity and healthy living amongst primary school-aged children.
Demaine will look to build on the work already undertaken by Sope and will focus on the progress of the female game in the Pacific region.
The 34-year-old hails from England but is no stranger to football in Oceania after holding various football-related roles in New Zealand since arriving six years ago. Her most recent task was as a Football Development Officer for the Waikato Bay of Plenty Football Federation, a role that required her to lead women’s development within the region.
Demaine spent two years with the federation from 2009 and achieved much during that time, including producing over 300 newly-qualified coaches through coach education courses and establishing a girls-only summer league with over half the participants new to the sport.
“I have always been passionate about getting more females involved in the beautiful game,” she says.
“I believe each of the countries in Oceania will offer different challenges and I’m looking forward to working with OFC’s member associations to hopefully make football the number one sport of choice for the women in our region.”
Toohey has joined OFC as Futsal/Beach Soccer Development Officer and will be responsible for the progress of the two small-sided codes in the Pacific region. The 47-year-old is a born-and-bred New Zealander and has extensive experience within both football and futsal in his homeland.
Toohey was responsible for introducing futsal to the Hawke’s Bay region of the North Island by founding Hawke’s Bay Futsal, an organisation that now has over 60 teams competing under its auspices. The father-of-three has worked most recently with New Zealand Football as a Futsal Projects Specialist and is also the former chairman of Futsal New Zealand, whose administration handover to New Zealand Football he instigated and oversaw.
“Futsal and beach soccer have vital roles to play in the technical development of the region, both now and in the future,” Toohey says.
“I’m looking forward to working closely with the member associations to create more activities and opportunities for players, coaches and administrators in both forms of the game. There is much to look forward to, with the Solomon Islands’ participation in the 2012 FIFA Futsal World Cup and the staging of the 2013 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup in Tahiti.”
OFC General Secretary Tai Nicholas says the new pair will be valuable additions to the team.
“Both Nicola and Paul have extensive knowledge of football as well as excellent skills so we are delighted to have them on board,” he says.
“Nicola is joining at an exciting time for women’s football in the region with the OFC Women’s Olympic Qualifiers set to take place next month in Tonga and the U-17 and U-20 OFC Women’s Championships both scheduled for New Zealand in April. Paul also has a very important role as OFC looks to further develop the increasingly popular games of futsal and beach soccer across the Pacific.”
The appointments of Demaine and Toohey come hot on the heels to that of a number of other new staff members as the OFC General Secretariat continues to grow and develop further.
Dylan Choi has also joined the Technical Department as an Administrator/Technical Analyst while several other departments have also had their ranks boosted in recent months.

Share