The two parties joined forces in January 2013 with the objective of establishing elite academies, based on the APFA model, in OFC Member Associations and its initial success has led to a strengthening of ties between the two organisations.
OFC Technical Director Patrick Jacquemet says the positive outcomes of working with APFA was the contributing factor to resigning the partnership, as was the news APFA Director of Football Giovani Fernandes would be available to assist on a full-time basis.
“Giovani’s expertise in youth player development is huge and having him on board in a greater capacity in 2014 will reinvigorate the programme even further,” Jacquemet says.
For his part, Fernandes is pleased to be able to dedicate even more of his time to learning about the region’s differing cultures, while sharing his passion for the game.
“I think being based in the OFC office means that I can be involved in the project full-time and I can communicate and be of assistance a little more than before,” Fernandes says.
“And hopefully in the long run we will have a bigger impact in terms of football development.”
Fernandes played a crucial role in the setting up of the elite academies in Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea and says it is a process that takes time.
“The first step in 2013 was to go to the country and identify the needs of the federation in terms of setting up an elite academy,” he says.
“Basically – what did the facilities offer, what sort of equipment did they need, the staff and their preparations as well as the players and their needs and ability to enter a full-time programme.
He says the implementation process followed whereby everything identified during the first visit was put into place and the actual running of the academy got underway.
“We went through an assessment at the end of the year, identified what worked and what can be improved and now we’re starting to set up for the year ahead.
“Both countries have talented players and both countries have motivated coaches,” he says of the two pilot countries.
“Our job is to allow them to improve upon the football environment, teach them and show them the protocols that have been developed in elite academies across the world and hopefully together we can adapt that and implement in a way that works for them.”
Fernandes was a member of the OFC Technical Study Group during the OFC U-17 Championship in April 2013 and says the opportunity to see the region’s brightest young talents in action reinforced everything he had been told about players in Oceania.
“It echoed the facts being communicated to me personally – that there is talent and there are good players in the region. At the same time it reiterated to me that we need to raise the standards so those players can get better and they can aspire to something higher in terms of football,” Fernandes says.
“Not necessarily just in terms of a football career, but a career in football – meaning they can get an education and still be involved in football as coaches, as physios, in anything. But the key thing for us, and hopefully we will be able to achieve this in the future with the development of the academies, is to raise the standards.”
Fernandes and Jacquemet aren’t wasting any time getting the 2014 activities underway as they both head off to Papua New Guinea this week for a six-day workshop with PNGFA and academy staff.
The pair will visit Lae, where the National Academy Programme was set up last year, and Port Moresby where they hope to start a Youth Academy Programme.
Fernandes says the trip coincides with trials for the next academy intake which he’s keen to take part in.
“The idea is to be part of the selection process for the academy, and at the same time identify the staff that will be part of the academy and review some of the protocols for running them,” he says.
“In Lae they’re already ahead because the academy has been running since last year, but it’s about making sure that everything is still in place for us to be able to impact the players and monitor how they’re progressing throughout the year.”
Developing the potential throughout the Pacific is not an easy task, but Fernandes is relishing the challenge his new role poses.
“The thing I enjoy most is the contact with people, the ability to share information but also to learn about cultures, about having to adjust all the time to every player in every country’s specific needs. That’s the thing that motivates me the most.”