The area has not had a proper football facility for four years but President Chung, who is also the president of the Papua New Guinea Football Association, ensured that would no longer be the case by putting the first spade to the ground.
The land being used to create the pitch is located at Gon Kambua Primary School, just a five minute drive from the town centre, and has been generously allocated to the local soccer association by board chairman and headmaster Kua Mogia.
President Chung, who was back in Papua New Guinea for the first time since being elected OFC President at the Congress in Pago Pago, American Samoa on January 15, was welcomed at the ground breaking ceremony by Kundiawa/Gembol MP Joe Mek Teine, Chimbu governor Fr. John Garea and Simbu Soccer Association President Diana Ulka Uran.
Teine said football had not been a focus for the government in previous years but is likely to get a lot more support now that it is clear what the sport is doing for the country and its people.
President Uran, a former football player and team captain herself, is delighted that the Simbu Soccer Association will soon have a new field as there has been a great need for one for some time.
All local matches have been played in recent years on a rugby field and interest in football has dropped off due to the lack of facilities. There were 12 teams in action when the world’s most popular game first started in the area but that figure has now fallen to six.
“It has been very hard when it comes to using the field for our matches,” Uran says. “Other sporting codes have been neglecting and rejecting us and it has always been a struggle.”
The surrounding community are very supportive of the initiative and it is hoped that the field will help prevent the area’s young people from getting involved with social problems such as drugs and alchohol by providing them with a much healthier pastime.
For more on Papua New Guinea football go to www.pngfootball.com.pg