The Solomon Islands may have missed the last edition of the OFC U-17 Women’s Championship but with this year’s edition just around the corner the preparations are already underway.
Solomon Islands Football Federation (SIFF) has assembled a wider training squad to start trials this weekend to secure their place in the team.
SIFF Technical Director Patrick Miniti said the selected players all have the potential for inclusion in the national team and he’s looking forward to working with assistants Diane Justus and Taiga Endo, a Japanese volunteer, to identify the most talented.
“This is a national trial to pick girls for the squad,” Miniti said.
“We will have girls from some of the provinces and from Honiara. We would like to select players to train and to represent the country in the OFC U-16 Championship in August this year.”
While the number of players starts high, with 61 players expected at this weekend’s first trial, Miniti believes they are making a good start.
“This is a process that really starts from scratch as we did not have any development programmes for the girls in the past.
“But we are determining to take up the challenge and hopefully this is the beginning of our development for the future.”
Players who have received a call up come from a range of clubs including Marist, Koloale, Malaita, Western United, Kossa and Central Islands as well as Woodford International School.
The trials will get underway at Lawson Tama Stadium in Honiara from 10am-3pm on Saturday 25, and 1-3pm on Sunday.