HONIARA: A new school programme initiated by Diane Justus, SIFF Women’s Development officer, has received positive feedback after its first week in operation.
The aim of the outreach programme is to introduce football at an early age – particularly to girls – so as to increase playing numbers.
Chung Wah Primary School at China Town received the first visit last Friday and Justus said the response was overwhelming.
“It’s just awesome. The response I received from the kids is very positive and I believe it’s an eye opener for a lot of them," Justus said.
“Although football is the country’s number one sport, a lot of the kids are are still unaware of the rules. The demonstrations I used (both in theory and practice) got them thinking and some expressed their desire to take football seriously."
She held two sessions for the kids – for standards 3 and 4 then standards 5 and 6 – and received requests to return to run similar programmes in the future.
Justus hopes that by teaching young girls about football they will be encouraged to continue playing the sport through to a senior level.
Story courtesy Solomon Islands Football Federation