The Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) officially launched the “OFC Education Centre” at the Loto-Tonga Soka Centre in Veitongo on Saturday 23 September. The education centre is being piloted in Tonga and the Cook Islands.

A plaque was unveiled by Hon. Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pohiva, OFC President David Chung, and Tonga Football Association (TFA) President Lord Ve’ehala. Around 100 youngsters participated in soccer matches organized at the Loto-Tonga Soka Centre field.

The Prime Minister said, “The OFC Education Centre will open doors and opportunities for Tongans passionate about a career in football – Tongan youth and players will have an education institute to gain knowledge, skills and experience in football”.

“It will be a foundation for the development of sport in Tonga by providing structured pathways to qualification and careers for those interested in football and any sport.”

OFC pilot programme

TFA President Lord Ve’ehala thanked Mr Chung and OFC for their shared vision.

“Football has evolved from what it was in the past and we need be strategically focused and push forward. We need fields, we need administration, we need logistics and we need to drive football forward as one big family.”

“We hope to better Tonga Football Association in the future but we need everyone to move together to drive football forward.”

OFC President Chung told the media that the focus of establishing the education centre was to improve the quality of soccer instructing and administration in Tonga.

“The end objective is to grow football and create quality players, administrators, coaches and referees so that Tonga can one day achieve the dream of being among the elite football nations of the world,” he said.

“The important thing for us is quality, not quantity, and we want to first make sure that these Polynesian countries are successful in improving the quality of administration and instructing.”

“Hopefully can launch the programme in the rest of Oceania’s member associations by next year and by then, we will have received the reviews from Tonga and Cook Islands and made improvements to the programme.”