Development programmes target Under-6

The Fiji Football Association (Fiji FA) will expand its grassroots development programme by introducing children as young as six during its grassroots football festival at the Fiji FA Academy in Suva on Saturday.

Fiji FA head of development (South) Meli Yasawa told SUNsports yesterday, their initiative reflected the association’s commitment to identifying and developing talent from an earlier age.

“This Saturday’s programme is for Under-6 and Under-10 players. Previously, our grassroots programmes catered for children aged 10, 12 and 14, but we have now extended it to include Under-6s,” Yasawa said.

“We want to introduce children to football at a young age because it gives them more time to develop. By the time they reach 10 years old, they are better able to understand and apply technical skills.”

Yasawa said the festival would give children valuable exposure to the sport as participation was free.

“We don’t charge any registration or participation fees. This programme is free because we want as many children as possible to take part.”

However, he acknowledged that attracting participants remained one of the programme’s biggest challenges.

“Our biggest challenge is getting the message out. When we held our first festival in March, only 20 to 25 children attended. We were hoping for a bigger turnout.”

Yasawa said Fiji FA relied heavily on social media and coaching networks to promote the programme.

“We use Facebook and our Viber groups to share information with coaches and teams. The more children we attract, the better the programme will be.”

He added that increasing public awareness remained a priority to ensure more children and parents learned about the initiative.