The tiny South Pacific nation that’s big on enthusiasm for football

By Craig Stephen

There's an encouraging sign for the sport in Niue. The kids are playing football in parks, rugby fields and wherever else they have space.

Football officials say this enthusiasm is part of a revival of the sport on the small island nation which is reflected in new competitions for budding young players.

More people playing football is something the Niue Football Association has had in mind since it was formed in 2021 following the demise of its predecessor.

"It's really nice to see when I drive around the island that the kids are playing football on the fields," says Jamal Talagi, secretary general of the Niue Football Association.

"And while there's hair-cutting ceremonies going on, I look over the other side, and there's kids playing football on the corner. That's something that's never happened before, not until the last few years."

She believes the resurgent interest on Niue is partly due to parents being reluctant to allow their children to play either rugby code and who feel football is safer for their kids.

Like almost everywhere on the planet, Niue's children are enraptured by the professional game and with so much football online it's reaching their phones and other devices.

"They watch football skills sessions on YouTube and also big game highlights, and they're coming to the competitions with new skills, which is really surprising," Talagi says.

"I'm just really surprised at the level of interest at the moment and the parents are asking us to continue to have annual tournaments, but they're also wanting us to organise regular games. But we don't have capacity to be doing that throughout the year."

While these annual tournaments are currently seven-a-side, they provide an opportunity for young players to play the game.

Talagi says there's an excellent turnout in comparison to the other codes played there. Two categories of competition are available - one of those aged five to eight, the other for those up to 12.

Talagi knows it's small acorns at the moment but she and the Niue FA are ambitious.

They want to host more competitions and are prepared to work with Niuean communities in New Zealand and Australia to develop the sport on the island and, potentially, have teams invited over to those nations to play and train.

But there are obvious logistical issues associated with improving the game in Niue.

With a population of only 1,600, there's only a small community to draw on.

Only the Vatican City with a population of 764 is smaller than Niue of nation states with footballing associations.

Equipment is in short supply and some of the plastic football frames are so battered they are kept together by duct tape.

Local businesses have helped out as much as they can and the FA organises fundraisers as well to purchase equipment.

Nets, balls, whistles and uniforms are all sought. Beyond those items, the Niue FA would like foreign coaches to come over and they are looking for help to host tournaments.

Even prizes for the current tournaments, which involved boys and girls, are difficult to find.

"We don't even have enough money to buy trophies for the award ceremonies," Talagi says.

As part of moves to revive the sport, Niue FA wants to rejoin the Oceania Football Confederation.

The organisation is reviewing its constitution which it hopes to pass it at its next AGM.

This year, or in 2025, they hope to be able to apply for associate membership of the OFC again.

"I know that's going to be really hard and I don't know the politics that's going on that goes on in OFC, but that's where we are right now.

"We're really limited by human resource.

"Everybody here in Niue wears multiple hats. I do this in my spare time, and it's a struggle to find the time to organise tournaments, but we do so because the kids really want to have these tournaments," Talagi says.

Halcyon days

Football in Niue was relatively popular in the 1980s and into the 1990s.

A men's team was sent to the 1983 South Pacific Games in Apia where they endured heavy defeats, to Tahiti and Papua New Guinea. That is the only time the nation has entered an international senior tournament.

Interest was such that the 1985 Niue League consisted of two divisions, with 19 participating teams from 16 clubs.

The sport was run by the Niue Island Soccer Association and it was an associate member of the OFC between 2006 and 2021. That was the year when the OFC revoked Niue's associate membership and the NISA was disbanded.

"The former Niue Islands Soccer Association has been inoperative for the past 10 years, putting it in breach of Article 10 of the OFC Statutes," the OFC's statement said of the decision.

Talagi disputes that NISA was inactive for so long and points out that the former national body organised tournaments between 2011 and 2015. But after that, she says, "it just sort of stopped from there".

"There was an assessment by OFC on the status of Niue football and they concluded that we were inactive and nothing was happening on the ground, and that the sport wasn't developed. But the association was not consulted during that process.

"So we decided to revive football in Niue. We elected a new committee in 2021 and established the NFA. And since then we have had communication with OFC which has said that we need to be active in football for all the junior categories.

"The high school has been involved, having soccer in their sports activities and I was just really surprised at the interest especially among the younger kids.

"There's also a lot of interest in the open men's and women's category."

The OFC statement in 2021 revoking Niue's membership also offered an olive branch.

"OFC is aware that a new entity representing Niue is in the process of establishment and welcomes its application for associate membership in the future."

A recent follow-up with the OFC reiterated that Niue is welcome to reapply and membership is dependent on it meeting the criteria set out in the OFC statutes.

One area that would prove beneficial to Niue is OFC's Just Play programme which has reached close to 500,000 children between the ages of six and 18 across the Pacific since 2009.

Some graduates from the programme have gone on to successful careers at national and international level.

-This article was first published by Friends of Football