Blue Kumuls to feature in Madang playoffs

MADANG Amateur Soccer Association will hold its playoffs this weekend and among the four A-league finalists are the Nigel Malagian-coached Tusbab Blue Kumuls.
Tusbab Blue Kumuls finished top in the A-league, winning all their games this year.
With a long history, Tusbab and Blue Kumuls started as two separate clubs and participated in the first sanctioned Madang soccer competition in 1964. There were only six teams then.
In 2004 the President of Tusbab and the Blue Kumuls, a policeman named Moses Narol decided to merge both clubs as Tusbab Blue Kumuls.
The club management decided to support head coach Rachel Wadunah to take on the challenge of coaching a club with a majority of students from Tusbab Secondary School.
It was a real challenge then for many of the male players, who had reservations of having a female as their coach. The club struggled for the first few years.
The club also developed an educational programme in partnership with Tusbab Secondary to have players who did not make it through the normal selection for Grades Nine and 12, to be re-enrolled under special conditions to continue their education.
Malagian and Emmanuel Airem had re-enrolled to continue Grade 11 while national women’s team player Ramona Morris had enrolled in Grade Nine and then in Grade 11 to complete her higher education.
In 2018, the club reach its first grand final and repeated the feat in 2019.
This weekend will see all three divisions of the club go into the finals – A-league, women and B-division.
The A-league side will have former captain Malagian issue instructions from the sideline as his players battle Pendamon in the semifinals tomorrow.
The former Lae City defender will count on captain Richie Apisa to shore up their defence while brothers Ricky and Jason Wadunah lead their midfield. Stahl Gubag and Barthy Kerobim will spearhead their attack.