First batch of teachers and volunteers are undergoing Just Play Program training sessions at the PNG Football Stadium in Port Moresby. The program was shelved due to mismanagement and was revived under the president John Kapi Natto after it was seen as a very powerful medium to get the message across the mass population through schools and community. Just Play Manager Christine Wamala-Uru was relieved to see the first phase of the pilot program is getting off the ground in Port Moresby. The program will be conducted in three regions of the National Capital District with Moresby Northwest schools being the first to be followed by Moresby South and Moresby North West by the end of the month or next month. The programs are going under work planned in conjunction with OFC Just Play office. “I am very excited, and so does the teachers and volunteers,” she said. Ms Wamala said after the three-day workshop, those teachers and volunteers will become facilitators in their own school or community in the North West electorate in NCD. The program will expand to other provinces depending on the reporting purposes to Just Play OFC. The provinces likely to come under the program include Western Highlands, Eastern Highlands, Morobe, Madang and Autonomous Region of Bougainville (AROB). The former Just Play Manageress Margaret Aka welcomed Just Play Program with a big relief describing it as a very good program for kids. The program started in 2011-2019. Aka said the program helped a lot of kids and the community. Some of the kids that went through the program become volunteers in the program. Catered for kids between 6-12 years old, the program takes participants through a range of football activities and games in a fun learning environment with the aim of generating an enduring interest in football. With the restructure and recruitment of new Just Play Program Manager, the program will become the focal point of the country’s football activity again this year, 2021-2022 going forward. Ms Aka is a co-facilitator of the program currently underway in Port Moresby. It started today and will finish on Friday.