Just Play technical coordinator Colin Tuaa and women’s development officer Emmie Sope led the workshops, which were attended by over 20 teachers and young coaches at the Vanuatu Football Federation’s Teouma Academy.
Their aim was to introduce teachers to Just Play – an OFC initiative designed to promote football and healthy living for children aged between six and 12 years – and give them guidelines on how it can be run in their schools by putting them through a series of practical sessions.
Toroi Sokomanu looks after the programme in Vanuatu and was pleased to see the expertise of Tuaa and Sope being passed on.
“It is a fantastic feeling to know that our teachers and young coaches have learned lots of basic lessons on how to teach football to our children,” he says.
“I am sure that these methods will help our young boys and girls onto the correct path of success in football and in making their dreams become reality in the future.”
Just Play was developed by the OFC social and technical departments and is led by OFC head of social responsibility Franck Castillo, technical coordinator Tuaa and Just Play consultant Vania Kenning.
It was launched in Vanuatu in April and has since been introduced in Tonga, Samoa, Tahiti and South Auckland in New Zealand. Next on the agenda are Fiji and the Cook Islands while OFC is also currently working in New Zealand with Special Olympics (NZ) on a Just Play programme for people with mental disabilities.
OFC is working closely with the Government of Australia – through its agencies the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) and the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) – and Football Federation Australia (FFA) to roll out the programme across the Pacific. The Australian Government has shown its support to the project by contributing AU$4million.
In South Auckland, Just Play is supported by OFC’s partnership with the Sir John Walker Find Your Field of Dreams Foundation, Counties Manukau Sport and Auckland Football Federation.
For more on Vanuatu football visit www.vanuafoot.vu