Fiji Football Association turned their focus to a different ball last week, hosting a FIFA/OFC Futsal coaching course at the FFA headquarters in Vatuwaqa.
OFC Futsal Development Officer Paul Toohey led the 20 participants through the course, providing candidates with an understanding of the techniques and skills related to the game.
“This course will help candidates organise and deliver basic futsal practices. It will also provide candidates with an introduction to the structure of the game, the laws and the role futsal can play in developing underlying skills and techniques,” he said.
“I think in Fiji there are lot of passionate people who are eager to learn and take futsal to another level as we can see there are some young and some experience players participating.
“Fiji should have a national futsal league which will be a way forward to challenge Solomon Islands and New Zealand and be on top of the OFC competition.”
Among participants was former Rewa and Labasa striker Sanaila Bera who was eager to learn in order to develop futsal in Fiji’s North.
“I am here with zero knowledge in futsal as I have been an eleven-a-side player but I want to learn about futsal coaching so I could do some development work in Labasa,” he said.
Fiji FA chief executive officer Bob Kumar expressed his gratitude for Toohey’s delivery of the course, thanking him for providing opportunities for the game to develop in Fiji.
“We are very thankful to our FIFA Instructor Paul Toohey for accepting our invitation at the last minute to come and instruct this week long programme,” he said.
“We all want to make a headway in futsal and that is why we organise such courses.
“I am sure you all will use the knowledge you gain from here and utilise in your club or district.”
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