Football Officials, players and parents around the island voiced their support for the Department of Youth and Women’s Affairs (DYWA) move to conduct a Preparatory Football League for all graduate football players around the island, in order for them to continue to improve their skills and knowledge of the sport.

One football official told Samoa News that the move by the DYWA to conduct such a football league opens the door for our local graduate players to earn a good future in football, and gives them another opportunity to earn a chance to attend college off island.

“This is something that we’ve being waiting for — a program that will help our graduate football players, who are attending the American Samoa Community College (ASCC), to continue their football career at an off island college,” said a local football official.

Matthew Laumatia of Tafuna said his two sons are playing football in the States, and it’s a must for our government to find a way to help our youth to continue on in the future — in sports, and in school.

“Some of our local football players, they stop playing football when they graduate from high school, and after high school, they don’t get a chance to continue on with their football careers. So for the DYWA to open the door for them, I think the government is moving in the right direction, by giving our youth many chances to develop their football careers,” said Laumatia.

According to Ethan Lake, the American Samoa Sports Commissioner, the primary purpose for this program is to provide another avenue of opportunity for our high school graduates to make it to an off island college or university through sports, by focusing on their academics at a local institute while also continuing and improving on their personal athletics.

This program is also for anyone who just wants to continue playing football.

Those who will be eligible under this program are any high school football players who have graduated, who are attending any one of the local colleges, including ASCC, Remington, Argosy or any other online university.

Registration for the program began last Monday, August 31 and will close on Thursday, October 15, 2015.

The DYWA is looking for 108 football players to register in the program, in order to fill three football teams of 36 players per team to start off the program.

So far, close to 50 football players have already been registered since Monday this week, and the DYWA is encouraging more players to register.

A brief get-together with DYWA and football players interested in this program occurred on Monday this week, where DYWA officials explained the program to those present.