The Iumi Play Under-14 Football Championship kicked off this afternoon at DC Park following an opening ceremony witnessed by officials from SIFF, Solomon Power, Provincial Football Associations, participating teams and fans.
The tournament was launched with a parade by the participating teams in front of dignitaries and officials.
Several speeches were heard including by the Chairman of the Board of the major corporate sponsor of Iumi Play Solomon Power, David Quan, and the Vice-president of SIFF, Marlon Houkarawa.Houkarawa in his speech thanked Solomon Power for supporting the Iumi Play programme and for giving the opportunity to young footballers to come together in this manner.
“I wish to thank Solomon Power for their sponsorship of Iumi Play,” says Houkarawa. “IUmi Play is giving new opportunities for football development and our youth.”Quan thanked SIFF for the opportunity to be a partner of football and that Solomon Power is happy to witness the Iumi Play championship.
“My management and my staff are proud of this opportunity to contribute to football development and to our children. I am very pleased to see all the children here today dressed up well with football gear and equipment made available through Iumi Play. I want to thank SIFF for making this possible,” Quan says.
The competition this year features teams from nine of the ten provinces of Solomon Islands who are represented by both a boys and a girls team. The line up includes Honiara who are seeking to defend their title in the boys category and Western also hoping to retain their top spot finish from the previous year.
In the opening matches of the girls category, two upsets were registered as Makira Ulawa defeated Western 2-0 and Choiseul edged past Honiara 3-2. In the boys category, Western defeated Guadalcanal 2-0 while Makira Ulawa picked up their province’s second victory of the day with a confident 3-0 win over Renell Bellona.
Pool matches will continue throughout the week and conclude on Thursday. The semi finals will take place on Friday and will be followed by the finals on Saturday.Solomon Power is the sponsor of the Iumi Play Grassroots Football Programme – which is a grassroots football programme for children initiated by SIFF and launched in July this year. Iumi Play aims to operate in fifty locations throughout Solomon Islands.
