Personal growth, connection and empowerment were key themes of the regional training.
Trainers from Fiji Football Association (Filomena Liku, Lia Waqairatavo and Louisa Simmons) Tonga Football Association (Sepi Vea and Madison [Grace] Tenifa), Football Federation Samoa (Akina Yamada and Sila Lelevaga and Solomon Islands Football Federation (Vanessa Kausimae and Claudia Votu) gathered in Nadi, Fiji last week to develop their own capacities to lead OFC’s This Is How We Football programme in their respective Member Associations (MAs).
Facilitated by OFC consultants Matelita Vuakoso (OFC Women’s Programme Officer) and Margaret Aka (Women’s Football Consultant), the ToT was designed to maximise the capacity of the trainers to facilitate training of new This Is How We Football coaches throughout Oceania, as the programme expands its reach in 2025. OFC’s partnership with the UEFA Foundation for Children provides funding for the programme to be delivered in nine countries, as well the 2025 regional Training of Trainers and advocacy campaigns.
This Is How We Football’s main goal is “to increase girls’ participation in football,” explains Vuakoso.
“The vision is to provide a safer space for them to come and participate, to come and open up and learn about not only football but also some of the social messages of empowerment, life skills, health as well as their safety.”
But to create a safe space for girls to be in football, the trainers themselves need to be comfortable in themselves and delivering the programme – and that is where the regional ToT comes in, explains Vuakoso.
“We hope that the trainers will go back with all the knowledge that they have from here and all the skills and whatever they’ve learned about themselves is to go back and they will be able to effectively deliver the programme and also to whatever challenges they face they’ll be able to encounter some of those things back in their country and to see the progress and the success of the delivery of the programme as well for this year.”
The group, which includes three current international footballers as well as a mix of experienced trainers and those at the beginning of their coaching and training journeys, began the first day with participant introductions and vision boards, before delving into programme overviews and participating in a practical session from the programme for themselves.
On the second day the group received training in safeguarding, presenting and public speaking, media and communications, and giving feedback. The third and final day saw the group join a local launch of Tabu Soro Futupolo, Fiji Football’s new early childhood education programme, which was facilitated by project lead and ToT participant Louisa Simmons. The workshop concluded with the trainers delivering their own practical sessions to the wider group.
Despite the workshop taking place over just three days, the growth in the participants was clear to see, says Vuakoso.
“The major highlight this week was the growth and the courage that we’ve seen with all the trainers. We have a mixture of a very experienced and a fairly new trainers that have come in,” she reflected.
“Everybody brings a lot of value the culture, the perspective and the context like different countries have its own unique way of delivering and coming together you weave everything together, you get to do some peer learning, you learn from each other.”
“The challenges of a country can be a strength of a country or weakness of a country can be a strength of a country but in that way they’ll be able to learn from each other exchange the knowledge, enhance their skills and also build their network and build their relationship as well and meeting in person is always a plus because it helps you value the people around you as well and to empower each other especially the work that we do into the growth of women’s football in this space.”
One of the newer trainers was Sila Lelevaga, Football Federation Samoa’s Women’s Coordinator, who has recently led the programme’s expansion into nine new communities on the island of Savai’i.
“It’s been a good experience for me,” she reflected after the ToT.
“There’s a lot of different experience from different participants from the region.
“I learned a lot of different areas and different ways of how to deliver this is how we football.
“So for me as a trainer, I’ll take what I learned and experienced from this training, and can use that with my own ways and style to deliver This Is How We Football in Samoa.”
This Is How We Football was launched in 2022 as a legacy programme from the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023. Targeting girls aged 13-18, it has been developed through collaboration between the Women’s Football and Social Responsibility Department at OFC with the support of the UEFA Foundation for Children, UN Women and other partners.
Photo credit: OFC Media