Photo Credit: Fijian FA Media

The Fijian FA bring together various teams from around the district for important high-performance workshops delivered in partnership with OFC.

One of the most significant events on the FFA calendar, the men’s Inter-District Championship (IDC), is taking place in Lautoka this week. The prestigious six-day tournament gathers districts from across the country to compete for the crown jewel of domestic football.

The week began with high-performance workshops run by OFC in partnership with the FFA technical department, taking advantage of more than 20 coaches from various districts, along with key staff from the Fijian FA.

OFC High Performance consultant, Dave Wright, led the presentations alongside FFA Technical Director, Timo Jankowski and FFA Head of Talent Development, Sunil Kumar.

“It was great to see so many coaches in the room, and so many who were willing to engage, share stories and support young players. Not only was it great to share some ideas with the group, but it was also important to acknowledge the work already happening,” Wright said.

The workshops were centered around two topics identified by FFA as critical for the continued growth of Fijian Football: Understanding Talent Development, and Modern Trends in Football – Transition.

The opening presentation focussed on how senior coaches can support the transition of high potential youth players into senior environments, the influences surrounding these players, and guidance on talent identification. Key factors that can impact a player’s performance as they progress towards professional environments were also covered.

A clear example of this progress can be seen in the men’s U-16 space. The team just qualified for the FIFA U-17 Men’s World Cup ™ 2025 in Qatar after finishing second at the OFC U-16 Men’s Championship in Tahiti.

“If you look at this year’s U-16 team, more than half of the players are now training and playing with the senior teams. It’s massive development, coaches have started to trust their young talent and have started to provide opportunities to train and play for their top teams,” said Kumar.

“It’s important that high potential young players get opportunities to play senior football when they’re ready, and I hope the ideas shared in the room gave the coaches plenty of tools to take back to their environments,” added Wright.

The second part of the workshop focussed on playing style trends in the OFC region and how Fijian teams can leverage the natural attributes of their players. There was a particular focus on transition – both attacking and defensive.

“We spoke a lot about transition, because here in Fiji we have a lot of very fast players, and players who like to defend, that have a certain level of aggressiveness. For example, looking at Liverpool under Jurgen Klopp’s area, with this fast, extreme counter-pressing, fast transitioning. I think that’s for sure a trend that would fit the natural ability of the Fijians,” explained Jankowski.

The response from coaches was overwhelmingly positive, as the event brought together key stakeholders to discuss how district teams, clubs and coaches can work in tandem with FFA to enhance Fiji’s competitiveness on the world stage.