Guam gains match experience, players evaluated in NMI training camp

[February 24, 2022 – Harmon, Guam] Players in Guam’s National Program gained valuable match experience in a series of eight training matches set up during a Northern Mariana Islands Training Camp held at the Guam Football Association Feb. 18-23.

Visiting teams were NMI’s Men’s and Women’s teams, as well as U20 Men’s and U18 Women’s teams. Each group played two matches against Guam’s squads during the training camp.

“COVID19 has really affected football development in Guam, with no competitive league matches in Guam since March 2020,” said Sang Hoon Kim, GFA Technical Director of the Men’s Program and Head Coach of the Matao, Guam Men’s National Team. “We are moving farther and farther behind our regional counterparts with the lack of matches, so we welcomed the invitation from NMI for matches during its training camp in Guam. Having our domestic squad of players take part in these matches has given coaches the opportunity to see their performance in real match situations, and similarly for NMI coaches. Match experience is very valuable for our players and moving forward, we need more of these opportunities.

“We were able to see good performances from many of our younger players, particularly a handful who were selected to play up for the match against the NMI Men’s National Team for the first time. Congratulations to the U17 National Team players who made their first appearance for the senior national team. Some of the debutants are players who graduated from the GFA National Academy and were actually members of our youngest age group. The successful performances on the field are a testament of what full time, year-round training programs can achieve if they are permanent and supported by stakeholders,” Kim added.

The Matao won twice against its NMI counterparts, 2-0 in a match played Saturday evening and a 3-2 edge in a match played Tuesday evening. In the first match, Ryan Quitugua and Devan Mendiola scored for Guam. In the second match, captain Jason Cunliffe scored all three of Guam’s goals. In the first U20 Men’s training match, Guam’s U20 National Team defeated NMI 2-0 with goals from Riley Rama and Beau Perez. In the second U20 Men’s training match, Guam’s U17 National Team fell to NMI’s U20 National Team 4-1. Guam’s lone goal was scored by 13-year-old Levi Berg in the contest.

During the COVID19 pandemic, teams from the Men’s Program have been training four times a week, with the U17 and U20 National teams playing training matches against club teams in the Budweiser Soccer League’s Premier Division that had last played in March 2020. Both youth national teams are preparing for their respective AFC tournaments later this year. The U20 National Team will compete in the AFC U20 Asian Cup 2023 Uzbekistan Qualifiers in September and the U17 National Team will compete in the AFC U17 Asian Cup 2023 Bahrain Qualifiers in October.

Aside from players gaining match experience, Sakiko Ogura, GFA Technical Director of the Women’s Program and Head Coach of the Masakåda, Guam Women’s National team, also used the training matches to further identify talent and assess football IQ among players who have been attending open training sessions.

“These types of training matches are essential for both teams – Guam and NMI – for overall development,” said Ogura, who recently joined GFA in mid-December. “With these as my first matches with Guam’s teams, I was able to make assessments of the players’ abilities and skills and to build from this experience. Before these matches, I was only able to watch film from previous international matches and work with the players in training sessions for only a few weeks beginning last month. We have not yet made any final selection for women’s team training squads, as I feel I need to see more from the players who regularly come to open training sessions.

“From what I understand, we have not had any competitive league matches in Guam for about two years, so the lack of match experience showed. We need more of these kinds of matches in order to develop the current players and further strengthen the overall Guam Women’s National Program,” added Ogura.

In training matches, the Guam Women’s Team settled for a scoreless draw with NMI Sunday evening and in the second match, fell to NMI 1-0. NMI won 4-0 twice in two matches in the U18 Women’s training matches.

Ogura and her staff coordinated an open house event for interested players and parents of players from the U14 age group up to the U20 age group Jan. 17. Players from four age groups – U14, U17, U20, and Women’s – began open training sessions that same week, with some veteran players returning and handful of new players interested in the National Program. Ogura is continuing open training sessions to give all interested players an opportunity to experience high-level training and for potential call-ups to teams for future international tournaments. In the current set up, the U14 and U17 groups train together and the U20 and Women’s groups are combined in training four times a week. All four groups train together on Saturdays.

For more information about Guam’s National Program, send an E-mail message to [email protected]