For the past three months, football players from around Rarotonga, Mangaia, Atiu and Mauke have been hard at work with intense training in preparation for the tournament.
The Cook Islands side will face American Samoa, Tonga and host Samoa while at
the championship, with the winner proceeding to the OFC U-17 Championship.
Taking charge of this versatile but young side is former national player and
Tuka Tisam, with assistance from former Auckland Grammar student Paul Luiz Van
Eijk.
Tisam is eager for his side to earn the opportunity to come face-to-face with
some of the Pacific footballing heavyweights at the OFC U-17 Championship,
which is set to take place in Vanuatu in April this year.
“It is our aim to see that we progress through to the second stage of the OFC
U-17 Championship,” says Tisam. “But for now we will concentrate on this
tournament.”
One week prior to departure the team were joined by overseas players from New
Zealand and Australia where they spent a week together in a training camp
working out the kinks of each player to better suit the team.
“We will need to bring our A game once we land in Samoa, the weather conditions
will no doubt play a part during the tournament and we will work hard to keep
our players focused,” Tisam says.
Prior to their departure the U-17 squad, with their management team, were
hosted at a luncheon with CIFA president Lee Harmon and vice president Jake
Numanga at Tamarind House.
The team is scheduled to depart for Samoa via New Zealand today, three days
before the championship kicks-off.
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