Over 500 young footballers participated in the league as they looked to hold onto the skills they developed over the previous season.
FFAS president Iuli Alex Godinet was on hand to hand out the prizes, with the help of executive committee members Sandra Fruean, Rev. Ioane Evagelia, Amio Mavaega-Luvu and Michelle Salaka, and says it was encouraging to see so many young players spending part of their summer playing football.
“The number of participants for our league is a little more than 500 and that number alone makes it a very successful competition,” Godinet says. “We thank you the parents for your continued support and hope that your children continue to play football for a very long time.”
In the results for the competitive divisions, Godinet says the race for the championship title came right down to the wire in the Boy’s 12-14 and 15-17 and the Girl’s U-17 divisions, with the day’s final matches proving the decider.
In the 12-14 Vaiala Tongan held off Taputimu Youth on goals differential despite losing to them earlier in the day. Green Bay came from the middle of the pack to steal the title from Atu’u Broncos in the Girl’s U-17 division. Finally in the Boy’s 15-17 Ilaoa & To’omata had led for much of the five-day competition before having the title snatched from their grasp by Lionheart.
With approximately 230 participants in the six to eight-year-old division and the nine to 11-year-old, Godinet says FFAS wanted to continue doing something a little different in terms of prizes for the non-competitive players.
Each participant in the six-eight-year-old category received a gift bag that included a compass set, colouring book and crayons, four notebooks and pencils for school as well as a snack and drink.
“We used to give out gift certificates for food for this age group but the committee and I, along with our staff, decided instead to help the parents prepare their children for the upcoming school year with a compass set and books,” Godinet says.
“This is the second year in which we’ve done this, give out these kinds of prizes,” he says.
FFAS CEO Tavita Taumua says the technical department changed the format for this year’s competition and everyone is pleased with the results.
“We wanted to make a change in the format for the older age group, not including the Boy’s 12-14, and are very happy with the outcome,” he says.
“The games were very competitive and will only serve to better our preparations for future OFC youth competitions such as the U-17 and U-20s.”
Next up in the FFAS calendar is the National League, the federation’s main competition, which is scheduled to kick-off on 3 August.
For more on American Samoa football go to www.ffas.as

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