3 minute read
General Secretary's Foreword
FOOTBALL
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Football Development I. Women’s Football II. Player Development III. Futsal IV. Beach Soccer V. Goalkeeping Clubs and Leagues Education and High Performance Refereeing Social Responsibility
CHIEF OF FOOTBALL MESSAGE
The year was one of many firsts for the Football Division as the COVID-19 pandemic pushed us out of our comfort zone and forced the suspension of face-to-face activities.
Our Football Development Strategy that was launched in 2019 specifically outlined strategic outcomes to be met year on year, which meant we had to adapt to deliver our goals for 2020.
Despite the challenges, the team pushed on, to continue our mandate of providing development assistance to our Member Associations in the categories of Women’s Football, Player Development, Beach Soccer, Futsal, Goalkeeping, Education, High Performance and Refereeing.
At the forefront of the Confederation’s objectives is high performance.
Our aim is to be represented by two teams at the 2026 and 2027 FIFA World Cups.
To try to achieve our goals we launched our activities, workshops, and courses for the year, online.
The OFC Pro League taskforce received approval for continuation by the Executive Committee in December, the second phase of the project will take in the commercial landscape. The taskforce is working in collaboration with the Operational Division, drawing in a wide set of skills from across the organisation.
I would like to extend my thanks to all who have participated in such unique circumstances, given the challenges that have been created by the onset of the pandemic.
This thanks extends to the Member Associations, General Secretaries, Technical Directors and their teams, who have worked hard and showed incredible resilience, in a landscape without parallel in the modern world.
Raising the standards of football, and quality of players in our region, is at the heart of everything we do. We will continue to foster high performance on and off the pitch.
Patrick Jacquemet Chief of Football
WOMEN'S FOOTBALL
The foundations for the future of women’s football development in Oceania were laid in 2020 as the framework for the first-ever Women’s Football Strategy was established.
What started with a brainstorming session on the current reality of women’s football in the region quickly developed into a more streamlined process of strategic development.
The first regional Women in Football Survey drew responses from 119 women working in a variety of roles including full-time staff and volunteers, from across the Pacific.
Consultation with OFC Heads of Department and their teams saw them contribute their understanding of women’s football and how women’s football integrated with their different departments.
A similar process was conducted by women’s football development officers in their local environments, providing relevant regional information.
This was all collated, themed, and finally integrated into the makeup of the draft strategy which was completed before year’s end.
The final product will be unveiled with the release of the first OFC Women’s Football Strategy in 2021.
As part of the OFC Football Development Strategy, the capacity building Train the Trainers workshop, was intended as a weeklong centralised course aimed at providing further leadership skills and confidence to support and grow capacity locally. However, with a quick turnaround, the course was converted to an online delivery which ran for six weeks in July and August.
The next step for graduates is the delivery of local workshops, with the goal of engaging women for capacity building and festival delivery.
New Zealand Football was the first Member Association to deliver, launching the Women in Leadership workshop, with support from OFC and FIFA.
Conducted over four days, the course was designed and delivered, focusing on developing the capacity of women working in a variety of football-related roles.
In addition to the focus on developing a strategy and instilling strong governance principles in the women’s game, plenty was happening on the field at the same time.
In the Solomon Islands the first Women’s Premier League was launched with eight participating teams.
Neighbouring Papua New Guinea saw the National Women’s Soccer League launched, bringing competitive women’s football back to the nation for the first time in more than five years, with an incredible 14 participating teams.
