Fiji Futsal head coach Jerry Sam hopes to continue to grow Fiji FA’s elite programs to provide the children of Fiji a pathway in their technical ability of the game.

The Solomon Islander who now calls Fiji home is proud of his achievement in developing women’s futsal, particularly as this August, the inaugural OFC Women’s Futsal Nations Cup is being staged in the Solomon Islands.

Sam says that in March, a women’s secondary school futsal league was set up to identify elite players.

“Futsal is a program that I created in Suva, and I wanted to extend it to the other two centres, Labasa and Ba. We have a four-year plan that we want to see the progression of Futsal development in Fiji. Today I can see the seed that we planted. We have seen it’s coming up now. It’s growing.” Sam said.

While Sam has entered the last year of a three-year contract, he is hoping to continue what he started.

Sam adds that he wants to see these chosen elite players play in a national team in the next three to four years.

“When you make a shift from futsal to football it will help technically, tactically, within the decision making and within the skill they develop through futsal. When you go to football, you have more time, and you have the confidence that you can excel in football.” Sam said.

“We can see within our elite programs we have merged futsal and football. The kids train football and futsal so that it can help them through the pathway in their technical ability.” Sam added.