Courtesy: OFC


Futsal and Beach Soccer crucial to OFC Development

Tuesday, 12th September 2006

The picturesque setting at Temae Beach on the island of Moorea off Tahiti proved an ideal afternoon off for the participants at the FIFA Futsal and Beach Soccer Seminar. The trip was not an excuse for fun in the sun as it provided an opportunity for the course participants to see beach soccer live for the first time in the region.

FIFA is committed to developing futsal and beach soccer into a global phenomenon and the popularity of both continues to soar in all corners of the world. Oceania is no different and the impending arrival of the first Pacific Island nation at the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup - with the Cook Islands, Solomon Islands, Tahiti, and Vanuatu fighting to represent OFC - provided added impetus and interest in the course content.

Following comprehensive assessments by the FIFA Development Office based in New Zealand investigating the current and planned activities in both forms of the game technical and administration staff from around the Pacific region descended on Papeete, Tahiti for the 1 to 4 September seminar.

Whilst there the participants benefited from the expert guidance of FIFA Instructors Scott Gilligan and Charles Ronlez under the leadership of Jaime Yarza, Head of Futsal and Beach Soccer development at FIFA. Also joining the FIFA teaching team were Beach Soccer Worldwide representatives Fulvio Danilas and Phillipe Bourdarias.

"The idea of this seminar is to develop these two forms of our sport. Worldwide, futsal and beach soccer have almost as many players as football, and a number of great players have honed their skills on a futsal or beach soccer pitch" said Yarza.

The four days in Tahiti gave FIFA the opportunity to inform the Member Associations of American Samoa, Cook Islands, Fiji, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tahiti, Tonga, and Vanuatu their development plans for futsal and beach soccer. In a similar sense OFC was able to present its plans on the two forms of football.

For many of the course participants, and indeed their Member Associations, it provided a chance to exchange experiences and best practices between each other and see how FIFA and OFC could provide assistance in establishing or strengthening futsal and beach soccer activities.

Perhaps most importantly, the seminar gave the all parties an opportunity to promote and develop a long-term approach to the relatively new forms of football.

OFC General Secretary Tai Nicholas is enthused by the prospects of both, but is particularly excited by the future of beach soccer in Oceania, "The natural geography of our region lends itself to this form of the game, and resource wise it provides an attractive alternative for some of our smaller National Associations, especially in terms of the simple things like not needing to have football boots"

"Along the same lines futsal is an attractive option for our players to show their skills. For us [OFC] small-sided games will play a big part in the development of quality players at all levels" Nicholas continued.

Initially for some National Associations futsal and beach soccer will be heavily used at grassroots level due to the lack of infrastructure within some countries. In this regard facilities such as mini-pitches in schools, beaches, villages, and churches will be utilized therefore becoming an increasingly important part of football development.

The seminar in Tahiti should prove to be the first step towards ensuring futsal and beach soccer growth in the Oceania Football Confederation.



Posted by Luca Ranocchiari --> luca.ranocchiari@futsalplanet.com