Held at the Solomon Islands Football Federation Academy in East Honiara, the championship was launched by SIFF President William Lai with OFC Women’s Football Development Officer Nicola Demaine and FIFA Development Officer Oceania Glenn Turner.
SIFF women’s development officer Diane Justus says the event is to give women from around the country the chance to play football, while also serving as an opportunity to do some scouting for the upcoming OFC U-17 Women’s Championship.
“This one week competition is intended to give those in the provinces the opportunity to attend and also for the coaches to identify potential players for the national U-17 training squad,” she says.
“The OFC tournament is compulsory for every country in Oceania to participate, and because of that we would like to give the opportunity to the nearby provinces to be part of this at least for a start.”
Lai envisions the championship becoming an annual event to offer women in Solomon Islands the opportunity to play football.
“We are witnessing and celebrating a new beginning for our women in terms of football development,” Lai says.
“We do have women who are very interested in football. Gone are the days when women were left out of sports, now I think let’s get down to the business of competition, development and compete with the rest of Oceania.”
The tournament was made possible thanks to support from FIFA and OFC, with FIFA providing the gear for the competition, including balls, pumps, bibs, cones and apparel, which was handed over by Demaine on the opening day.
Demaine says in the last five years FIFA has increased its support for women’s football development around the world, which contributed to the governing body being able to host the biggest Women’s World Cup to date, with 24 teams taking part in the event earlier this year.
“FIFA’s mission is to make sure those teams are well prepared for such tournaments,” Demaine explains.
“Thus the need to have good programmes and competitions, especially in our Member Associations. So far in Oceania over 3000 women and girls have been able to find football through this programme.”
Demaine believes women’s football in the Solomon Islands will definitely benefit from the championship, and urged players to make good use of the opportunity.
For more on Solomon Islands football visit www.siff.com.sb.

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