{"id":756676,"date":"2026-06-24T06:37:16","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T06:37:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/756676\/"},"modified":"2026-06-24T06:37:16","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T06:37:16","slug":"oceania-leaders-connect-and-inspire-at-festival26","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/756676\/","title":{"rendered":"Oceania leaders connect and inspire at Festival26"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two women\u2019s development officers from Oceania recently joined a cohort of emerging female leaders from across the Pacific, Asia\u00a0 and Middle East, to explore how football can create positive social change and strengthen communities.<\/p>\n

Cook Islands Football Association\u2019s Teretia Teinaki and Tonga Football Association\u2019s Madison Tenifa represented Oceania in Sydney, Australia at Festival26.<\/p>\n

Hosted by Creating Chances<\/a>, the week provided opportunities from football for good programmes across Sydney through workshops, school visits and peer-to-peer exchanges.<\/p>\n

Teretia Teinaki featured on a panel discussion during the festival\u2019s Connect, Lead, Transform Networking Event, sharing experiences from OFC programmes such as This Is How We Football and Just Play.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, it was pretty interesting and I really enjoyed it,\u201d Teinaki said. \u201cThere were some similarities, and then also hearing what other people are going through.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Teretia Teinaki during the panel discussion. Photo\/Creating Chances<\/p>\n

One of the experiences that resonated most for Teinaki was seeing how football was used to support refugee communities.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey went into schools where some of the kids were refugees, seeing how they use sports, like football, as a vehicle to bring them together,\u201d Teinaki explained. \u201cI think that\u2019s pretty cool how they try to communicate across to those that don\u2019t understand English, how they use football as a tool to connect.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joining with Tonga Football Association\u2019s Madison Tenifa as the two representatives from the blue continent, Teinaki expressed her gratitude for collaboration.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think she was the best person to go with,\u201d Teinaki expressed. \u201cIt was our first time meeting but we spoke as if we\u2019ve know each other before. She\u2019s doing some great work in her federation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Madison Tenifa during a This Is How We Football Workshop in Tonga.<\/p>\n

OFC Inclusive Oceania Manager Tom Gamage said the opportunity for the pair to connect with other emerging leaders is an important connection.<\/p>\n

\u201cFestival26 is a perfect example of the impactful legacy of major sporting events,\u201d said Gamage. \u201cThe ability to share, educate and connect with female leaders from across the world is something we truly value,\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are looking forward to more opportunities across Oceania to grow football in the region.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reflecting on the experience, Teinaki expressed her appreciation towards the cohort, facilitators and OFC\u2019s support. Teinaki encouraged other young leaders in football to step forward into opportunities like these.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is opportunity there, but it\u2019s up to you whether you take it or not. Take that step, and go for it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two women\u2019s development officers from Oceania recently joined a cohort of emerging female leaders from across the Pacific,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":756677,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[563],"tags":[64,63,596,85],"class_list":["post-756676","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-football","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/756676","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=756676"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/756676\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/756677"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=756676"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=756676"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=756676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}