Six provincial associations have so far expressed their interest to be involved in the event at DC Park but full confirmations are expected by the end of the week.
This year’s tournament will be the second beach soccer championship to be held in the football-mad nation. The inaugural edition took place last year at the same venue and featured ten teams from eight of the ten Solomon Islands Football Federation (SIFF) provincial associations.
SIFF officials are hoping a similar number of sides will be involved this year as beach soccer in the country looks to bounce back from the disappointment of the national team handing over its OFC title crown to Tahiti at the World Cup qualifiers in February.
Honiara are the defending champions but are likely to face stiff competition from the likes of surprise 2010 runners-up Malaita and Western Province, whose team has been training for a month already under the guidance of national team goalkeeper Abraham Bird and former international Benjamin Mela.
“A number of current and former national team players are in Gizo and they are supervising the preparations of the squad that is training here,” Western Football Association general secretary Robert Riqeo says.
Despite missing out on a fourth OFC title in a row, the Solomon Islands are one of the leading beach soccer nations in the Oceania region and each of the players taking part in this month’s national championship will harbour dreams of being selected for the Bilikiki national team.
The Bilikiki have won three out of the four OFC Beach Soccer Championships since the competition began in 2006 and have gone on to cause upsets at the FIFA World Cup, including a 7-6 win over Uruguay, then ranked fourth in the world, at the 2009 event.