U20s to train, study in EHP

 By FRANCIS RODNEY PULU

MEMBERS of the Papua New Guinea women’s Under-20 squad for the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup in November will have a chance to study and train at the National Sports Institute in Goroka, Eastern Highlands, said a senior official from the Papua New Guinea Football Association.

PNGFA operations manager Edris Kumbruwah said they had a meeting with the Education Department last year to give the girls the opportunity to train and study when they assembled at the institute. 

Kumbruwah said education offcials would write to their counterparts in the players’ province of residence to arrange transfers so they could enrol in schools in Goroka while training for the World Cup.

“We decided to take this step because the girls’ future is important,” Kumbruwah said.

He said they wanted the girls to balance their studies and training so that they were not left out on a limb when it came to academic assessments. He said the next step now was for the Education Department to liaise with the Eastern Highlands provincial education authority to secure enrolment for the girls at schools in the province.

“I will be travelling to Goroka this week to follow up on this and see the NSI staff to facilitate the girls while they are training there for the World Cup.” 

Kumbruwah said that the girls would be role models in the schools they would be enrolling in because the FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup was the biggest sporting events to be hosted in the country in this year.

A 37-member squad was named last year to start training at the National Sports Institute.