AUCKLAND – The Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) U-12 Festival of Football has undergone a revamp and namechange for the third edition of the popular competition and will now be called the OFC Youth Festival to illustrate the cultural and educational element of the tournament.
Fiji hosted the first ever OFC Youth Festival back in 2006 with under twelve boys teams playing football at Churchill Park, Lautoka, and experiencing the cultures and language of the hosts and fellow participants. The relationships and friendships built would be one of the enduring memories of the competition as local schools "adopted" a visiting team for the duration of the tournament.
Visiting teams were welcomed by local schools and cultural exchanges were made including song and dance indicative of the part of Oceania each respective team came from.
On the pitch the action was intense but the spirit of Fair Play prevailed as the teams competed for the right to go to the Danone Nations Cup at the Stade Gerland, Lyon, France, 2006. New Zealand team United Soccer 1 won the OFC U-12 Festival of Football and took part in the then 32 team format in France playing teams from France and South Africa to name but two.
In 2007 it was Papua New Guinea’s turn to host the tournament thanks to help from the French Government and its France Co-Operation programme. The French Ambassador to Papua New Guinea Mr. Patrick Boursin signed an historic Memorandum of Understanding with OFC to provide funding that offset the costs involved for teams travelling to Port Moresby.
On the pitch it was Saint Joseph’s School from Port Vila that prevailed at the OFC U-12 Festival of Football – Port Moresby 2007 with New Caledonia, Solomon Islands and New Zealand all finishing hot on their heels. Vanuatu’s adventure continued at the Danone Nations Cup where it finished 20th out of 40 competing teams including wins over Germany and Switzerland.
This year’s OFC Youth Festival cultural component begins on May 28th, 2008 with the football tournament kick-off scheduled for May 29th. The tournament concludes at Stade Numa Daly on May 31st as a curtain raiser event to the Christian Karembeu XI vs. France ’98 XI match featuring such wonderful names as Lifou-born FIFA World Cup winner Christian Karembeu, Zinedine Zidane and Fabien Barthez amongst others.
FIFA President Joesph S. Blatter will be attendance after inaugurating the New Caledonia Goal Project at Paita earlier that day capping off an exciting star-studded day for the Oceanian youngsters.
The OFC Congress is scheduled for June 1st, 2008.
Four players from "Les Cagous" at Ward Strip School, Port Moresby, 2007.
Hundreds of youngsters sit patiently awaiting the arrival of the Solomon Islands team in Port Moresby
The cover of last year’s tournament programme featuring smiling faces from the OFC U-12 Festival in Fiji 2006
OFC President/FIFA Vice-President Reynald Temarii watches on as Solomon Islands team arrives
School children at Port Moresby Stadium celebrate a goal
New Caledonia and Vanuatu share the adulation of 8,000 fans on the final match day last year
CULTURAL UNDERSTANDING: A young girl from Papua New Guinea in traditional garb welcomes the teams
OFC Media interview a New Caledonia player during the educational element of the tournament in Port Moresby