The workshop is being attended by 12 participants from schools and communities in Honiara with an almost equal representation of men and women from five different schools – St. John Primary School, Lunga Primary School, Perch Primary School and Burns Creek Primary School.
Three communities are represented in the workshop with participants coming from Burns Creek, Matanikau (Lord Howe) and White River.
Overseeing and contributing to the proceedings is Emmie Sope, the Technical Coordinator for Just Play based at OFC headquarters in Auckland, New Zealand.
Just Play instructor, Christopher Asipara, is leading the workshop with the support of technical officers, Commins Menapi and Garbiel Riotarau.
The first day of the workshop covers health and social issues affecting young children. During the second day participants will learn how to use football to address the social issues highlighted on day one. The final day will introduce participants to the basics of football coaching within the OFC education structure.
The content being delivered to participants has been developed from previous years which addressed basic football for young children aged 6-12 years old. The revised content in Just Play courses reinforces the principles introduced in previous training workshops but links to football development, health education and building community partnerships are highlighted as integral to the programme.
Diane Justus from the SIFF Technical Department explains that essentially Just Play is about impacting upon the lives of young children in schools and communities positively using football as a medium.
“Just Play is unique and effective as a tool for community education because it uses sport – something which children enjoy – to bring home the message,” Justus says.
“While the children enjoy and develop football skills they also learn about important health issues and how they can overcome them.”
Just Play was introduced to Solomon Islands in 2010 during the same period the FIFA World Cup was held in South Africa.
OFC has worked closely with UEFA, the Australian Government – through its agencies AusAID and the Australian Sports Commission – Football Federation Australia and UNICEF to implement the programme across the Pacific. It was launched in Tonga and is now running in all 11 of the OFC Member Associations.
Just Play has reached over 150,000 children – 44 per cent of whom are female – across the Pacific, and trained over 2,700 teachers and volunteers.
The Just Play workshop will conclude on Wednesday.
For more on Solomon Islands football go to www.siff.com.sb

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