SOLOMON ISLANDS are gearing up for the upcoming U17 Women’s Championship starting with trials to determine the country’s final squad.
A total of 61 players kicked of the trials held on Saturday and Sunday at the Lawson Tama Stadium.
Former coach, Patrick Miniti believes undergoing the trials is a positive start to their preparation.
“This is a process that really starts from scratch as we did not have any development programs for the girls in the past.
“But we are determining to take up the challenge and hopefully this is the beginning of our development for the future.
Solomon Islands have missed the last edition of the OFC U-17 Women’s Championship but are now looking forward to putting in a tough team for this year’s edition.
Miniti said the selected players all have the potential for inclusion in the national team and he’s looking forward to working with assistants Diane Justus and Taiga Endo, a Japanese volunteer, to identify the most talented.
“This is a national trial to pick girls for the squad.
“We will have girls from some of the provinces and from Honiara.
“We would like to select players to train and to represent the country in the OFC U-16 Championship in August this year,” Miniti said.
Players who have received a call up come from a range of clubs including Marist, Koloale, Malaita, Western United, Kossa and Central Islands as well as Woodford International School.
By CARLOS ARUAFU
