The 16-year-old attended the U-20 competition in Fiji in March, and while training with this side, learned he would also be heading to Vanuatu in April with the country’s U-17 team.
His last outing with a national squad was his debut at the previous U-17 championship in 2011 held in New Zealand, making him the most experienced member of the 2013 bunch.
Having followed both the English Premier League, where his favourite team is Manchester United, and the A-League, Ray has developed a style which sees him remain solid in defence with the occasional advance forward.
“I enjoy playing in the middle of defence because I’m the one that does the talking and the organising. Back in school I used to play in the midfield so when they pushed me to the back I found it easy to play more attacking so I like to try and make runs forward when I can.”
Ray says playing for his country is a great feeling, especially as many of his U-17 team-mates look up to him as a role model, despite him being younger than a number of them.
“I actually played in the previous U-17 competition, with players like Alwin Komolong, and moved up into the U-20s with them. I learnt a lot playing with them in Fiji because they are very experienced and have been playing for a while,” Ray says.
“I didn’t see much difference playing in the two different age groups. Well, I would say that the U-20s was a bit faster than the U-17.”
He says while the U-20 national side didn’t have a great tournament the U-17s performance has helped restore some of the country’s pride in their youth footballers.
“Back in our country a lot of people underestimated us following the U-20 performance,” he says. “They thought the U-17 would go much worse than the U-20 but now they are saying that even though we lost, it wasn’t by a big margin so we’ve done well.”
Back in Papua New Guinea Ray has been plying his trade against some of the country’s top players in the National Soccer League with his club side Eastern Stars.
“I was a junior at the club some years back but now I’m in the first team playing against clubs like Hekari United. I find it competitive and challenging but it’s made me grow up faster and has helped me improve my game, especially on the international stage.”
As one of the stand-out defenders at both age-group competitions, Ray says his skills perhaps haven’t been developed in the most conventional manner.
“I usually play with my younger brother on the x-box and every small thing that the player does on the screen I replay and watch over again then I try to do it with the soccer ball,” he says.
“I start playing x-box from after dinner and finish around four in the morning, and spend maybe only one or two hours on the field practicing.”
In the near future Ray says he will return to Papua New Guinea to try and help lift Eastern Stars up the table from their current position.
“It’s coming close to the end of the season, maybe the finals will be in a month’s time. Our team has dropped a bit – probably because I left for these two tournaments,” he says.
Meanwhile long-term he would love to consider a professional career in the sport he loves.
“I am happy to keep playing in Papua New Guinea, but if I get an offer to go somewhere else I would love to take that opportunity to continue to enjoy and improve my football.”

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