The website is located at www.justplayofc.org and is the latest exciting development in the progress of Just Play, which has had a huge impact on the lives of children across the Pacific since its launch in 2009.
The site was developed by IDesign Media, an Auckland-based multimedia design and website development agency, and can be accessed directly or via the official OFC website at www.oceaniafootball.com
It features key information about the Just Play programme, including text summaries, videos, statistics and photos, as well as a breakdown of the progress of Just Play in each of OFC’s 11 member associations.
Also provided are links to Just Play’s three major partners – the Australian Government, Football Federation Australia and UEFA – and other governments and non-governmental agencies involved with the programme.
OFC Head of Social Responsibility and International Relations Franck Castillo, who is responsible for the development of Just Play across the Pacific, is pleased the programme now has an online presence of its own and sees the launching of the website as a result of Just Play’s success.
The site follows hot on the heels of other developments in the Just Play communications plan, which have included the launching of a Facebook page and Twitter account, as well as the production of a new information brochure.
“Communication is crucial today,” Castillo says. “The Just Play website will give us the opportunity to further explain to parents, teachers and community leaders the social objectives of this sport for development programme, how we manage it and what positive social changes have already been achieved.
“It is also a way for us to acknowledge our strategic partners, the Australian Government, Football Federation Australia and UEFA, and the governments of the Pacific for their tremendous support, as well as the 2, 260 teachers and volunteers who have got behind Just Play to help improve the lives of Pacific children through football.”
Developed by the OFC social responsibility and technical departments, Just Play is designed for children aged six to 12 and promotes physical activity while encouraging community involvement, healthy living, gender equality and disability development.
OFC has worked closely with UEFA, the Australian Government – through its agencies the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) and the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) – and Football Federation Australia to implement the programme across the Pacific over a three-year period between 2009 and 2012. It was launched in Tonga and is now also running in American Samoa, Cook Islands, Fiji, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tahiti and Vanuatu.
The confederation has also been working in New Zealand with Special Olympics on a Just Play programme for people with mental disabilities and has launched the same initiative in Samoa and Fiji.
Just Play has reached over 106,000 children – 43 per cent of whom are female – across the Pacific and trained over 2,200 teachers and volunteers.

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