| Sports |
PNG to host junior soccer
championship
Papua New Guinea will host the 2007
Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) Under 12 Festival of Football
in Port Moresby next week.
Four teams from PNG including one each from New Zealand, New
Caledonia, Vanuatu and the Solomon Island will take the field on
April 18-20.
The four PNG team will represent regional champions from Momase,
Highlands, New Guinea Island and Southern regions.
According to reports from PNGFA secretariat, Bugandi have so far
been confirmed to represent Momase in the U12 football festival
while PNGFA has instructed Paddy Kelly of Goroka to put a team
together to represent Highlands region.
The same was also done for New Guinea Island with Mary Manhi
tasked to organise a team to represent the region, while School
Soccer Port Moresby is still wondering who will take charge of the
team to represent the Southern region.
Port Moresby School Soccer, is an affiliate of PNGFA, will field a
team.
The overseas teams will start arriving on April 15-16 and the
actual event will be on April 17-20 at Sir John Guise Stadium,
Waigani. All teams, including PNG, will stay at Holiday Inn for
the duration of the event.
In the meantime, Papua New Guinea Football Association (PNGFA) has
donated 18 soccer balls to the Bugandi Primary school on Monday.
The balls will be used for the Under 12 boys training for the OFC
in Port Moresby this year.
While presenting the soccer ball, Papua New Guinea Football
Association (PNGFA) General Secretary, Dimirit Mileng told the
Bugandi Under 12 boys that this is a good change for most of them
to participate in this international event.
He said Papua New Guinea will have four Under 12 teams in this
Football Festival. “Each of the four regions (NGI, Highlands, and
Momase, Southern) will send a team to participate in this
Festival. You will represent the Momase region,” he told the boys.
He told the boys that they might not have another change in the
future and encouraged them to do their best.
Those Under 12 boys’ teams that are qualified for this OFC
football festival are those teams that came first in the 2006
Regional Besta Junior Futsal tournaments held through out the
country last year.
While receiving the soccer balls, Bugandi Under 12 Boys team
manager, Besi Simongi thanked PNGFA for the soccer balls. “I am
very happy with PNGFA because these balls will be very helpful to
the Momase Under 12 boys in their training towards the Festival,”
Simogi said.
He said we have started on our training already and are working
very hard to be the best Under 12 team in the Oceania.
Simogi said the Bugandi Under 12 team was qualified when we
defeated Gagidu of Finschhafen in the Under 12 Boys grand finals
in the 2006 Regional Besta Junior Futsal Tournament in Lae last
year.
He said that Lae School Soccer is working very hard to make the
mission possible by pushing the boys to Port Moresby to represent
Momase in the OFC Football Festival.
 
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