Vahirua enjoyed a glittering professional career in Europe for over ten years and has returned to Tahiti to share his experiences and grow the game in French Polynesia.
AS Tefana Technical Director and senior team coach Laurent Heinis is delighted with Vahirua’s recruitment.
‘’We are very happy to welcome Pascal to our club. It is a great chance for us to have such an experienced person,’’ Heinis says
Vahirua will work closely with the AS Tefana technical staff to improve the pathway of young players to the senior team and, it is hoped, help them to reach a professional level.
‘’Pascal helps us on the organisation of the club in every age category. In June we will see how much impact this has had,’’ adds Heinis.
Vahirua, a former French international with 22 caps, played most of his career for AJ Auxerre in French Ligue 1.
Born in Papeete Vahirua left his ‘Fenua’ for Auxerre at the age of 16 to pursue his dreams of becoming a professional footballer.
Such was the pace of Vahirua’s progress, he was quickly integrated into Auxerre’s senior professional team at the age of 19.
He left the club in 1995 and in the next seven seasons Vahirua enjoyed spells with SM Caen, Atromitos F.C. in Greece and French Ligue 2 club Tours FC.
After a colourful and storied career, he retired in 2002.
Despite his retirement, Vahirua retained his passion for the game and played for Stade Auxerrois and AJ Auxerre reserve team at an amateur level.
Wanting to put something back into the sport he loved, Vahirua found a project in the Auxerre youth academy where he took charge of football development.
Now he finds himself back in the pacific with Tefana, where his dreams of achieving football glory began.
‘’To have Pascal involved in our club gives us a real credibility to our project.
‘’He has a rich experience as player and also 10 years’ experience in football development’’ says Heinis
Tefana’s youth philosophy is based on long term development and it is a concept that took three years for both parties to finally realise.
‘’We have first invited Pascal to the club three years ago to explain what our philosophy was and the objectives for the club.
“Two years later Pascal returned and he saw the progress we’ve made. Finally he was interested and motivated by our project’s success and he decided to join us,’’ says Heinis.
The return to Tahiti and AS Pirae of Pascal’s cousin and one-time OFC Player of the Year Marama Vahirua at the end of last year was another boost for football in Tahiti.
With the two cousins giving their experience and professionalism back to the game in their country, the impact over the next few years could influence future generations of young footballers in Tahiti.
‘’Pascal and Marama’s collective experience needs to be profitable for Tahitian football and for the emerging generation of players coming up through the ranks.
“It is what we want to achieve here at Tefana,’’ Heinis says.
AS Tefana finished runners-up in the OFC Champions League in 2012.

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