Riiti ilo Kajin Majel: Juon eṃṃakūt ikijjien Soccer ilo RMI

The Marshall Islands Soccer Federation (MISF) are scouting for US-based players, coaches, and administrators to help them achieve their goal of competing internationally.  Shem Livai founded MISF in 2020 because even though his son wanted to play soccer they found no teams or facilities for the game in Majuro.  At present all efforts to raise awareness or support the team has been all volunteer or self-funded.  

Buoyed by a recent visit to Majuro from the UK, that was funded by sponsors, MISF Technical Director Lloyd Owers traveled to Majuro to set up soccer clinics (classes) and talk to the Olympic Committee as well as to advocate for soccer in the school curriculum.  He is excited by the opportunities available to Marshallese soccer enthusiasts regardless of where in the world they live.

“The aim of the MISF is to ensure that all Marshallese people have access to play soccer and compete at a level suitable to them, whether that’s recreationally with friends or ultimately representing the Marshall Islands internationally.”

Whilst UK-based Coach Owers’ maiden project only took him to Majuro, adding members of the Marshallese diaspora to the pool of players, coaches, and administrators available is part of the Soccer Federation’s strategy. “If you identify as Marshallese and have an interest in soccer we would love to hear from you. We are dedicated to growing soccer for children, men, and women across soccer and Futsal,” added Owers.

Futsal is similar to soccer but with smaller teams and played indoors. It looks to be one of the biggest drivers of growth, as it requires less space and resources than its traditional counterpart. The Federation have hired Pat McStay as their Head of US Recruitment to ensure that any interested persons have a US-based contact. “I’m really looking forward to hearing from anybody in the US who either has Marshallese nationality or ancestry and has an interest in being part of our soccer revolution. I’m based out of Richmond, VA and my time zone means I can give more attention and care to any players and officials in our program.”

Building upon a successful 2023, the Federation is looking ahead to potentially sending a team to compete in a 2024 Micronesian Futsal tournament in addition to hosting the first ever international soccer match in Majuro later next year.

They also plan to host regional soccer camps in various locations in the US in 2024. The Federation has already launched a Futsal league in Majuro with weekly fixtures, in addition to weekly training sessions for children and women. They are also in talks with the Ministry of Education to both train local coaches to be proficient in soccer and add the sport to the school curriculum.

Pat McStay, Head of US recruitment, said the Marshall Islands was the only nation without a national football (soccer) team – until now! There have been more stories about the Marshall Islands Soccer Federation in other news publications.

The amount of success the Federation has had over the past 6 months is a real statement of intent and demonstrates how seriously soccer is being taken on the islands. “We are committed to growing the sport and we want to use soccer as a vehicle of raising awareness of the issues currently facing Marshallese people around the world. We have already attracted several international sponsors and our story has been covered by organizations such as ESPN and New York Times.”

According to a GoFundMe page posted by the Marshall Islands Soccer Federation, the long-term ambition is for the Marshall Islands to become a member nation of both the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) and ultimately, FIFA (the International Federation of Football Association).  In order to do that, the Marshall Islands Soccer Federation must demonstrate enough local interest and initiative covering the initial costs of travel, equipment, training and competition.  They have independently raised half of the estimated costs to ship equipment donations, for Lloyd Owers to provide coaching and PE teacher education in person and conduct sessions for the men’s team, children’s soccer and coach training.  Most importantly, the MISF wants people to come out and support the new team and try out the game!

If you’re interested in being part of this program, please reach out to Pat McStay via email, or complete the following expression of interest form.