More than 300 children have confirmed their attendance for the Just Play beach soccer festival, which will take place in the village of Kiuva on Saturday.
It follows last month’s two-day Just Play festival in Suva, which also attracted over 300 participants, with the theme of hand washing and wellness.
Fiji Football Association Just Play manager Lavenia Yalovi said Saturday’s festival would focus on key messages of living healthy lifestyles and encouraging equality and social inclusion.
“As part of the festival’s programme athletes and children alike will participate, with interactive sessions focusing on health, gender, inclusion and protection,” Yalovi said.
“Some of the benefits of the programme include improved concentration span, respect and basic life skills.
“Just Play is using sport to help children develop healthy lifestyle habits, encourage gender equality, promote social inclusion and help children become confident in their abilities.”
Oceania Football Confederation Just Play Technical Coordinator Emmie Sope said there has been plenty of interest shown by children in Fiji, so the challenge now was to ensure the teachers were equipped as well as possible.
To assist with this Sope is currently conducting a two-day course in Kiuva to prepare for the practical delivery of the events.
“As we look at the increasing amount of interest shown by kids we need more teachers,” Sope said.
“We know children often have to travel a long way for the Just Play programme, so these workshops are to train the trainers and enable us to cover more locations and reduce the need for so much travel.”
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