World Footy News

With PNG the AFL Oceania Youth Cup holders AFLPNG are certainly not sitting back and resting on their laurels. With the appointment of the new Director of the AFLPNG Academy Moses Kar, a expanded intake of students awarded scholarships to the De La Salle Football Academy and two of their stars at the Youth Cup spending a week training with AFL Club Richmond football remains very much to the forefront.

The relationship between AFLPNG and De La Salle Secondary School has strengthened with AFLPNG awarding scholarships to 27 students for 2011. Building on 2010 whereby 17 boys attended De La Salle on AFLPNG scholarships, De La Salle has supported the development of the game by allowing AFL to be an integral part of the boys' curriculum.

The Academy scholarship recipients come from throughout PNG and have made incredible improvements within their first year. The Academy has achieved great success in both the Oceania Cup held in Tonga and the Australian U/16 Championships representing South Pacific. They also performed admirably against the indigenous Flying Boomerangs in December last year.

In December 2010, PNG claimed the Oceania Youth Cup in Tonga, defeating host Tonga by 44 points in the Final. The 25 strong team was made up of 17 Academy boys who live, study and train together. Coach of the side Walter Yangomina praised the growth of the game in PNG.

“The establishment of the AFLPNG Academy must take a lot of credit for the win in Tonga. It has fast tracked the development of those kids in the system, they have been together for nearly 12 months and they are playing brilliant team football. Theo Gavuri from the Academy won the best player of the tournament which is a credit to him."

Newly appointed Director of the AFLPNG Academy Moses Kar knows that the boys are keen to focus on training hard and improving their football ability, however he acknowledges that Academic success is a priority. “First and foremost, the boys must dedicate their time to their studies. After they have completed their studies for the day we allow them to play football."

De La Salle Secondary accommodates the students on campus at Bomana. The boys all share a dorm that is provided with showers and toilet facilities, a common area and a kitchen. There is a football oval located within the grounds where the boys train every day. “The facilities are perfect for what we want in our program. There are adequate ovals, sporting facilities and equipment and the sleeping quarters are fine for the students. We are hoping to increase the number of scholarships awarded in the future, and in doing so continually upgrade our accommodation and sporting facilities."

The selection process for the AFLPNG academy begins at school football throughout the provinces. The best kids are selected to represent their region at the Regional Championships. From the Regional Championships kids are selected to play at the Coca-Cola National Championships whereby more kids are selected for the AFLPNG Talent Camp, and International Junior Representation. After impressing at these levels, students are selected for the AFLPNG Academy.

Once at the school the scholarship recipients must meet the academic standards set by De La Salle Secondary to continue at the AFLPNG Academy. If students are not meeting the required standards their progress through the system will be difficult despite their football ability. The footballers selected for 2011 are Major Alphonse, Bruno Arnold, Samson Augerea, Isaac Bakani, Brendan Beno, Junior Frances, Albert Gabi, Theo Gavuri, Ezra Gotuno, Scott Johnson , Douglas Kaiwa, Freddy Kalandi , Harry Kambuou, Ezra Kautu, Rau Kobale, Max Lavai , John Jim Lavatu, Junior Lavu, Alois Luba Alois, Michael Macca, Noel Maguna, Nathan Malbak, Eddie Meli, Ori Nilmo, Nane Rai, Gideon Simon, Jason Soong

AFLPNG Academy students Gideon Simon and Nathan Malbak have just spent the last week of January in Melbourne, Australia for a week of training and testing with AFL club Richmond Tigers.

Simon and Malbak, both 16, were noticed by Richmond recruitment officer Matthew Clarke at the 2009 AFLPNG Talent Camp held in Goroka. Since then their development has been closely monitored by the Richmond Football Club. At the AFL Oceania Youth Cup Simon and Malbak again impressed Richmond recruiting officer Matthew Clarke who offered the boys an opportunity to travel to Melbourne to be assessed by the football club.

Gideon Simon, a midfielder originating from Mount Hagen, is excited about what lies ahead for him, “It is a great opportunity for me to impress the Richmond Football Club, I have been working really hard improving my kicking and I hope to learn even more from my experience in Australia."

Nathan Malbak, a half back flanker born in Lae, was also looking at making the most of the opportunities in front of him. “I am really happy to get this chance. I hope to learn a lot from the experience. The AFLPNG Academy has allowed Gideon and I the opportunity to play and develop our football, so I look forward to playing football in Australia."