Speaking at the Opening Ceremony of the 3 Days FIFA-TFA TALENT DEVELOPMENT COACHES/SCOUT WORKSHOP in Loto-Tonga, Home of Football, TFA’s General Secretary, Lui ‘Aho outlined the electing of Hemaloto Polovili as first manager of the new FIFA Talent Development Scheme here in Tonga.
“FIFA’s goal is that by the end of this year, TDS has reached and be launched in 30 different countries Globally and we, Tonga Football Association are very fortunate to be one of the Member Associations to start this new FIFA program and Hemaloto will be the face of Tonga TDS as he is the one appointed for this new role in TFA,” TFA General Secretary, Lui ‘Aho.
Hemaloto Polovili is a very familiar face in the Oceania Region as he is Tonga’s National Men’s Team current Striker and his background in Tonga Football along with his very respectful attitude makes him a very known talented young man in the Tonga Home of Football, Loto Tonga.
- Played Premier League at 16 years old
- Trial at Asia Pacific Academy in Christchurch 2010
- Trial at Wellington Phoenix Academy 2012
- TFA Team Captain U19 (2016) | U23 (2019)
- TFA National Team Player (2015 – 2022)
- TFA Assistant Competition Manager (2020 – 2023)
- TFA Talent Development Scheme Program Manager 2023
Funded by FIFA with an aim to give every talent a chance, the FIFA Talent Development Scheme (TDS), led by FIFA Chief of Global Football Development Arsène Wenger, has moved forward to the phase of full implementation by helping member associations to fulfil their potential by ensuring that every talented player has a chance to be detected and developed and Tonga Football Association took the lead in starting this new program.
FIFA Consultant to the Oceania Region, Tony Reading visited the country along with OFC Player Development Officer, Dave Wright for a 3 Days workshop to mark the begin of this program in Tonga. The theory and practical workshop was for coaches that has been selected from different area in Tongatapu and Vava’u and they will be responsible for the scouting of potential and talented kids. The coaches will be based in four different centres which is Hahake District, Vahe-Loto District, Vahe Kolo District and also Vava’u District.
“Coaches will start scouting potential players from all over Tonga starting from this week and those players will be brought in to Tonga Football Association for further and special trainings. This program will be ongoing for four years and by the end of this new cycle which is 2026 we hope that we would be able to build a National Team Academy where this program will continue on from.” TFA Chief of Football, Kilifi Uele explains.
“This new scheme will identify talents both boys and girls probably 12 to 17 years old and this talents will be funnelled through centres of excellence and hopefully in the near future we will build a National Team Academy where they will receive proper training and coaching”, TFA General Secretary, Lui ‘Aho.
Source: Tonga Football Association
