Solomon Islands: Koloale wins Women’s Preseason Tournament

The first tournament of 2020 Solomon Islands football season is over. Twelve teams took part at Women’s Preseason Tournament held at Lawson Tama Stadium during this week to celebrate the 42nd anniversary of Solomon Islands’ independence.

The tournament counted on hundreds of women from many regions of the country – “Women’s football has had encountered many challenges over the years but this competition has shown that we can grow our women’s game to a higher level,” said Solomon Islands Football Federation (SIFF) president William Lai.

Twelve teams were split in two groups of six teams each and the top four teams from each group advanced to the knock-out stage. Koloale was the dominant team in the group stage as they won all their five matches in Group A while Police Blue led the Group B – “Both our teams (Police Blue and Police Yellow) played very well since we only had two weeks of training. Majority they know how to play, there is a few that this is the first time for them to play,” stated Police’s team manager Grace Hilly.

Koloale kept their dominance in the tournament to reach the final and beat Wansol Frigates in the final clash to clinch the title while Police Blue and Police Yellow clashed in the Third Place Play-Off match and the blue team won by 8-4.

“I think such a tournament will help prepare girls for the upcoming league so by having this tournament is very helpful especially for us girls,” said Koloale’s player/coach Crystal Bakolo – “It’s an opportunity for our women to come out and be part of this event. Football is a beautiful platform for women to keep healthy and meet other women […] I hope this tournament will attract other clubs to participate to support women football development in the Solomon Islands,” said Grace Hilly.

Oceania Football Center congratulates SIFF and all involved players and staff members who took part of this tournament. You can check full information about the tournament by clicking here.