goodmorningpapua.com – A legend of the Indonesian national team, Rully Nere, believes that the existence of the Papua Football Academy (PFA) is very helpful in fostering early childhood football in Papua.
As a representative of Papuan son who has been in the Indonesian football world for a long time, including the Indonesian national team, Rully Nere, realizes how important the presence of the academy is as a form of early childhood development.
“Currently, there is no football academy in Papua. Whereas, we have many clubs that compete in the Indonesian League. The presence of the PFA is clearly very helpful in coaching from an early age,” said Rully Nere.
According to Rully, clubs in Papua have the advantage of getting players educated by the Papua Football Academy. Although PFA dropouts can also play in clubs outside Papua through the Elite Pro Academy (EPA).
“Actually, the presence of the Papua Football Academy really helps Persipura to have prospective players to join the Elite Pro Academy. Unfortunately, Persipura has to play in Liga 2 for this season,” said Rully Nere.
“Hopefully Persipura Jayapura or other Papuan clubs will appear again soon in League 1 and join the Elite Pro Academy,” said the midfielder who had played for Persipura in the 1970s.
As one of the players who participated in presenting the first football gold medal at the 1987 SEA Games, Rully Nere hopes that success will be achieved again by his successors.
“In the past, we in Papua received very limited knowledge of football. Now, everything is very open,” said Rully Nere.
“Moreover, the presence of the Papua Football Academy also prepares its students in academic lessons and skills. I believe they will understand and grasp the strategy of playing football faster,” he said.
Initiated by Freeport
The Papua Football Academy (PFA) is an initiation and one of PT Freeport Indonesia’s social investment commitments to assist in developing Papuan football resources.
The year 2022 is the beginning of football coaching for 30 Papuan sons. The talent search process has been conducted in three cities, namely Timika (11-12 June), Merauke (18-19 June), and Jayapura (25-26 June).
Timika will be the headquarters of the Papua Football Academy, where students will get all the necessities of life free of charge.
Persipura Holds a Prime Training
After a three-month vacuum after being relegated from the Liga 1 competition, last March, the Persipura Jayapura team will start their training camp today, Monday (4/7/22).
A manager of Persipura, Yan Permenas Mandenas, said that the team had been gathered to undergo a training camp at Mahachandra Field, Cenderawasih University (Uncen), Jayapura City.
“We will do the first training. All players are collected and they will be informed through assistant manager Ricardo Salampessy,” said Mandenas through his release.
Mandenas admitted that all preparations for the Black Pearl squad began to run early this July. In addition to starting to prepare the team, his party is currently still aggressively seeking sponsorship support.
Meanwhile, a new coach of Persipura, Ricky Nelson, said that as many as 25 players would attend the prime training. Most of them are new faces that to be selected.