Former professional player and experienced national age-group coach Batram Suri has been named as the new manager of the Solomon Islands women’s national team.
Suri previously coached the Solomon Islands U-19 men’s team to the semi-finals of the OFC U-19 Championship 2018 and led the nation’s U-23 men’s team to second place in the OFC Men’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament the following year.
His success as a coach comes after an illustrious playing career which saw Suri counted among the region’s top talents through the 1990s and 2000s, representing the Solomon Islands at national level and playing club football in New Zealand, Vanuatu, Fiji, Tahiti and his homeland.
“It’s a wonderful opportunity to coach the women’s team and will be a great challenge,” Suri said.
“The players have improved from previous camps, especially with advice from Felipe (Solomon Islands Football Federation Head of National Teams and High Performance, Felipe Vega-Arango).”
Since the start of November the Solomon Islands women’s squad has been training three times a week, with work underway to create a philosophy for the team which mirrors the system of their male counterparts.