Young and energetic footballers were glad to be out and about in the sun while on their school holidays for a good cause at the CIFA Complex field this week.

The football festival, named the ‘She Shines Football Festival’, was held on Tuesday to raise awareness for breast cancer with October being the official breast cancer awareness month. It just so happened to be a perfect opportunity for parents to bring their little ones out of the house to the field to support the cause and play some football.

The kids were kept happy and preoccupied on the field while parents supervised from the sidelines in the shade. The kids were separated into age groups with the field sectioned off into separate areas of different football activities which rotated every 15 minutes to ensure each group had a turn with a certain activity. Prizes were given out at the end of each round to top players.

Six-year-old Raizel Siason Tatuava had a blast on the field, proudly running to her grandmother Helen Tatuava who was stationed on the sidelines snapping photos.

“I scored two goals so I won two more bags!” she proudly exclaimed, handing her prizes swiftly to her grandmother before turning to run back quickly into the game.

Tupou Patia-Brogan, the festival organiser and Cook Islands Football’s women’s development officer said: “I’m pleased to see that parents have shown their support for breast cancer by bringing their kids. The purpose of the festival is to promote football and give the young ones something to do on a hot day with the school holidays just recently kicking off, while at the same time showing support for breast cancer.”

Eyes on the prize, little ones line up to have a go at scoring a goal. 21100507

The older kids had the challenging task of playing on their knees and were all giggles as they rolled around trying to score a goal. 21100508