World Footy News

 

Along with Samoa, the other main absentee from the 2011 AFL Oceania Youth Cup tournament was the Solomon Sharks, who had debuted in 2010 to the delight of many.  As it turned out this year, the will was there to attend, but, the finances is another issue entirely.  The Solomons were able though to leverage off neighbours PNG and sent 2 players plus a team manager along with the main PNG squad.

 Ed Burton is the AFL development officer in the Solomons, and he recently prepared a 2011 year in review, noting that it was written/published on the AFL Solomons facebook page during the recent Youth Cup.

Major highlights:

The first SIAFL club comp, school comps, first ever full time local AFL development officer, over 1500 participants through SolKick, 250 registered players at training centres, the 'Big Meat Pie', 3 guys in Fiji presently for the Oceania Cup, but I personally can't wait for next year!

Thanks to everyone who has supported our fundraisers and events this year we will be looking to you again next year as we aim to send a full squad to Fiji to compete in the Oceania Cup next December.

Domestic comp expansion for 2012:

We will also need all hands on deck for the new SIAFL League next year which will be the big test for whether AFL is going to last in the Solomon Islands. It will feature 6 different clubs; Tenaru, King George, Kukum, Chinatown, Rove and White River. This league will be a seniors comp and I'm also hopeful that we will be able to get a junior comp off the ground, which will be coached and run by the senior players around the club and will be attached to the senior comp (junior game will be played as curtain raiser to senior game).

I am hopeful that each club will have an expat coach/centre coordinator to help the daily runnings of the club (setting training nights/times, coaching, etc) but also each centre will have an experienced and trained (we are running a coaching course late Feb) local player who will be assistant coach/centre coordinator, so it will be a coaching partnership in a capacity building style, and I will be able to go between clubs and fill in when needed.

It will be a home and away season playing at your local fields, a 9 - 12 a side comp depending on the number of players and size of the field.  We will have trained umpires (players) who will be able to earn some $$$ umpring games.

The competition will hopefully run itself but Job or I will be at each game to set up fields/ground marshall, and more responsibility will be placed on clubs to coordinate themselves in terms of looking after uniforms, finding sponsorship support for travel expenses, providing water, running trainings, etc.

We will look to start the season late March so preseason will probably kick off Febuary, more community/school clinics will happen early in the year as well as a school comp to get players back in the swing of it. Plenty to look forward to so get excited, I am!

Oceania Youth Cup 2011:

Our boys, Francis Ramo and Javy Sarare are currently in Fiji with Job competing in the under 16's Oceania Cup in a combined team with boys from Nauru, Fiji and Tonga and have apparently started in every game which is a great achievment at this level. Keep an eye out in the Sol Star, something more will follow.

Burton finished with a call for extra helpers and volunteers, such as “…mum's interested in getting involved please put your hand up, hope to run a small Super 8's style evening for the youngun's but as we know nothing happens without volunteers help!”

 The Solomon Islands AFL can be followed on Facebook.