Port Moresby association kicks off nine-a-side soccer tourney

THE Port Moresby Soccer Association (PMSA) kicked off its nine-a-side tournament on Saturday with officials noting a big turnout from teams for matches at the Bisini Soccer Ground.
PMSA games coordinator Peter Mathew told The National that more than 30 teams across three pools turned up for matches with the officials using this week to confirm teams before the season starts this weekend.
“It was quite a good turnout this weekend because the Covid-19 pandemic and the lockdowns we went through this year forced everyone to stay away from the field,” he said.
“For the first weekend, we decided to try out our matches with friendly games between teams who’ve showed interest to play.
“So hopefully by this weekend, we can have all the teams so we can start to collect points for the respective pools.
“Everyone who came out was hungry to play football and we could tell the teams and players were excited to be back and play games.
“There are a lot of young people who want to play so we’re happy that there’s something for them to look forward to over weekend.”
Mathew said team registration was ongoing, however, the number of sides for the two men’s pools and the women’s pool would be confirmed before the weekend.
Following the closure of sporting activities for most of the year, the PMSA executive board and its club delegates decided to hold the nines competition which will end next month.