Samoa reboot inter-island tournament - Football in Oceania

Samoa have reintroduced an inter-island tournament between Upolu and Savaii.

Upolu Under 10 Boys with Coach Desmond Edward. (Photo: FFS Media)

The two islands are the largest in Samoa – with Upolu being the largest in population, also containing the capital Apia, while Savaii is the largest in size, with its 1,694 square kilometers.

The tournament that has been rebooted is known as the Inter Island Centre’s Development Programme Competition.

“The dream of every footballer is to become a professional player and be able to represent their country. As such, it is one of the Football Federation Samoa (FFS) main goals to ensure that they help our players achieve their goals. As part of this, FFS conducted a reintroduction of the Inter Island Centre’s Development Programme Competition, which is one of FFSs’ technical programmes for 2021,” the Football Federation of Samoa wrote on their website.

The tournament took place in Savaii in November and saw teams from Upolu travelling to Savaii to take part in the Under 10, 12, 14, and 16 boys and girls divisions.

The inter-island programme comprises of talented young players selected from various clubs in Upolu and Savaii competing in the Upolu and Savaii National Youth League tournament.

Paying attention to the Opening ceremony, Upolu & Savaii Centre Players. (Photo: FFS Media)

The federation has also started up a training program for kids, which has been running twice a week since September this year for boys and girls from the Under 10 to Under 16 age groups, in both Upolu and Savaii.

“The FFS Centre’s Programme focuses on the development football skills for children between the ages 10-16 as it strongly believes in nurturing players from a young age. Some important aspects of the Centre’s program include focusing on technical skills as well as discipline as it has been noted that whilst Samoan children naturally have the physical strength, it is equally important to install technical skills and discipline at an early age,” the FFS wrote.