Football for all: Kapi Natto

The National Sports

By ISAAC LIRI
IT was described as a milestone for football in the country when the Kumul Petroleum National Soccer League (NSL) kicked off at the Sasindran Muthuvel Stadium in Kimbe, West New Britain, on Sunday.
Football fans in the province turned up in numbers to witness history in the making, the country’s premier football competition being played for the first time there.
Papua New Guinea Football Association (PNGFA) president John Kapi Natto recalled going to Kimbe some years ago and saw for himself how interested the people there were in football.
“It is our dream to take football to the grassroots level, and to all the corners of our country,” Kapi Natto said.
“If we don’t have this dream then we won’t see football being played everywhere.
“All our young people must play football and we must build a bridge for them.
“How to engage all our young people so they can find their pathway in football is important and having the Kumul Petroleum National Soccer League in Kimbe for the first time is a classic example.
“We had a dream to have the NSL in the Highlands and NGI, and we’ve ticked those boxes.”
Kapi Natto recalled saying NGI had produced a lot of great football players in the past and bringing the NSL to the region would allow young talent from the region to be exposed.
Kapi Natto also urged the people of NGI to look after the NSL as it would grow in the region.
“I want you all to see the NGI Conference as a baby that must be nurtured in order to grow,” he said.
“That responsibility depends on everyone to make sure the conference grows.”
Kapi Natto said the winners and runners-up of the conference would be paired with the winner and runners-up of the Southern Conference, while Northern would be paired with Highlands after all the rounds were completed.
Other guests who accompanied Kapi Natto to the kicking off of the conference were NSL chairman Benny Popoitai, PNGFA legal adviser Dan Kakaraya, representatives of Kumul Petroleum Holdings Limited and West New Britain government representative Dacca Wagai.