MIMIKA, CENTRAL PAPUA – Papua Football Academy is a junior football academy established by PT Freeport Indonesia in 2022 and inaugurated by Indonesian President Joko Widodo. Papua Football Academy has a vision to provide education and optimize the talents of Papuan children to become superior individuals who are intelligent, competitive, confident, adaptive, and have the opportunity to become professional football players in the country and internationally, and currently there are 60 students aged 13 years to 15 years divided into two batches. Papua Football Academy students receive technical, academy and life skills training from experienced and licensed coaches and staff for two years.
PT Freeport Indonesia through Papua Football Academy held a youth football competition titled Freeport Junior Cup 2024, the competition was centered at the Mimika Sports Complex football field for three days from Wednesday, May 8 to Friday, May 10, 2024. This inaugural edition of the tournament is poised to become a new platform for forging the young talents of young Papuan footballers with competitiveness and character.
The Freeport Junior Cup 2024 will feature more than 200 young footballers from six of the best football clubs and schools in Mimika Regency, Central Papua, including Mimika United Football School, Timika Putra, Saireri Football School, SATP, Kuala Kencana FC and Wania Imipi Football School and those participating in the tournament are students born on January 1, 2008 and later or ages 14 years to 16 years.
This regulation is set to provide a forum for Timika’s sons to show their talents in accordance with the needs of the U-17 National Team which will face the AFF U-16 and AFC Asian Cup U-17 and in the final match there will also be a Grassroot Festival which will be followed by students born on January 1, 2011 or the 13-year age group, this festival is also an event to see the potential of prospective 2011 students before the launch of the Papua Football Academy Find Talent 2024.
The Freeport Junior Cup 2024 competition applies a group system and knockout round, participants are divided into two groups and consist of four clubs, for the two best ranked teams with the most points will enter the semifinals.
Director of the Papua Football Academy Wolfgang Pikal said that he is optimistic that the Freeport Junior Cup 2024 will be a new round of youth football competition for Central Papua Province, Wolfgang hopes that this tournament will also be a golden opportunity for young footballers in Papua to hone themselves to practice playing the right ball following existing regulations.
Through the Freeport Junior Cup Competition, Papua Football Academy also wants to introduce matches with standards that are in accordance with National football rules and competitions that prioritize the interests of children and this is considering the lack of competitive age group football competitions.
The former Assistant Coach of the Indonesian National Team in 2010 and 2016 hopes that this tournament will become a stage for competitions that prioritize the interests of children and this tournament can also inspire and motivate local clubs and SSBs to carry out soccer coaching in Mimika.
Director and Executive Vice President of Sustainable Development and Community Relations of PT Freeport Indonesia Claus Wanafma said, PT Freeport Indonesia fully supports the organization of the Freeport Junior Cup 2024 in order to increase the participation of Papuans in sports, especially through football, Claus is optimistic about the role of the Papua Football Academy through the Freeport Junior Cup 2024 while providing a forum for positive activities for young people, so that they can be educated in practicing modern football games and following applicable regulations, “we are sure that the Freeport Junior Cup 2024 will add new innovations in the competition for young age group football coaching in Papua” said Claus.
The Freeport Junior Cup competition will be a new format of competitive youth competition to produce young Papuan footballers with winning character. Paul Galingging, Head Coach of Kuala Kencana FC, said the teams participating in the 2024 Freeport Junior Cup showed great enthusiasm to compete in the match. The Freeport Junior Cup competition also shows the experience and competing mentality of SSB student players, so that they are able to compete competitively both at the national and international levels, “We highly appreciate the holding of the Freeport Junior Cup 2024, hopefully it will further explore the abilities of Timika’s young talents,” said Paul. This competition will provide lessons, motivation, mentality of competing players from each club and Paul hopes that the competition will be successful and can be consistent in the following years for better Timika football.
Timika Putra FC Head Coach Joe Yandeday said soccer teaches how to work together, not to be selfish, soccer also teaches discipline, leadership, tenacity, sportsmanship and fairplay, and hard work. This match at FJC is a golden opportunity to realize the dreams of footballers in Mimika.
Papua Football Academy has participated in a number of national and international championships, such as the National Soeratin Cup, Barati Cup and most recently became runner-up in the U16 open championship in Selangor, Malaysia.
