FIFA development officer Glenn Turner, Win in Oceania project manager Vairani Davio and OFC deputy general secretary Greg Larsen are overseeing the planning talks, which also include Football Federation of American Samoa (FFAS) president Iuli Alex Godinet, club presidents and the FFAS secretariat.
“I am very excited about this opportunity to map out the plans and strategies of our association for the next four years,” Godinet says.
The previous development plan is nearing the end of its cycle and FFAS CEO Tavita Taumua is pleased to say that its objectives have been met.
“We have year-long competitions and the staff to meet the demands of these competitions, programmes and the development of the sport in American Samoa,” he says.
Godinet is just as proud of what has been achieved and sees no reason why the same rate of progress can’t be made when the new development plan is put into practice.
“It’s a huge task but in the past four years we’ve made leaps and bounds in achieving most of the current targets,” he says. “I am extremely confident that whatever we produce now will be targeted with the same determination as that of the past four years.”
The current long-term vision is: ‘To be the number one sport in the country in both participation and popularity, well-managed to deliver efficient and effective services and programmes to members, and provide opportunities for all participants to achieve at the highest level, and improve profile and ranking in the Oceania region.”
The targets of the current plan were divided into the areas of youth football, men’s competitions, women’s football, refereeing, medical, futsal, planning and administration, media and marketing, and infrastructure.
“There have been many achievements that we are happy about and it all comes from team work between the president, executive committee, club presidents, members, myself and the staff,” Taumua says.
“Team work is the only way we can achieve our goals and that’s what we need from everybody to make the new development plan a success in the next four years.”
For more on American Samoa football go to www.ffas.as