Over 400 girls took part in a festival to mark the restart of the Heilala Manongi soccer pilot project at the Loto-Tonga Soccer Centre on Saturday, 15 August in Veitongo, after a four months hiatus due to the health emergency restrictions.

The festival started with a Zumba session followed by fun activities led by Tonga Football Association (TFA) Director, Kilifi Uele and the Veitongo Premier Football team.

Heilala Manongi aims to develop women’s football in Tonga, by reaching out to girls aged 13-15 years old, in over 50 communities.

The program had been on hold due to CoViD-19 restrictions shortly after it was launched in March.

TFA Women’s Football representative Mrs Palu Tu’amoheloa was glad Heilala Manongi had restarted.

“This event is one of the most impressive women’s football project that we had and I’m glad that we started today, otherwise their interest might drift away because we had been rest for four months.”

Palu was also grateful that volunteers were still committed to the program.

Festivals are also being organized for Vava’u and ‘Eua with Ha’apai set to launch the soccer project this week.

Head of Women’s Football, Adelaide Tu’ivailala, said it was encouraging to see young girls from various communities showing their interest and passion for football, and amazing to also see their parents supporting them.

The project is supported by FIFA and will run until January 2021