The NZAFF Board recently confirmed the remaining Team Management positions for the National Flag Football Team to compete in the World Championships in 2020.
 
Joining Shiraz Soysa, the head Coach, are:

• Jordan Cox, from the Hawkes Bay Heat, as Offensive Coordinator
• Shane Tinetti, from the Nelson Honey Badgers as the Defensive Coordinator
• Brendan McGurk, from AFC, as Team manager

 
The positions were advertised on the 22nd May and applications were open to all members.  At the closing date for applications we had three members indicating interest – one for each position.
 
The Team Management will now schedule the training and selection camps and will communicate the dates to all the players who have registered their interest in participating in the campaign.
 
Recently IFAF announced that the venue for the 2020 World Flag Championships had changed from Korea to Denmark.  
At this date there has been no announcement of the date or the in-country venue for the Championships.

​The Polynesian FHOF goodwill tour has just finished.
 
Visiting players were Ma’a Tanuvasa, Vai Sikahema, Reno Mahe and Mark Nua accompanied by Kevin Kaplan and Phil Hetu.
 
While they were here they visited several High Schools in Auckland and on Wednesday night they attended a training session with the team travelling to the DownUnder Bowl next month.  They shared tips and techniques with the boys and the coaches and ran drills with the team.  The session was filmed and that will be aired on TV possibly next weekend.  More information will be provided on the details when they becomes available.
 
On Thursday night they attended the Coaches Q&A session at the Manurewa Sports Centre where they shared their views on the development of the game and the players and answered questions.
 
Kevin Kaplan, from Polynesian FHOF, explained one of their aims in coming to NZ is to reach out to the coaches and have them take the message to their communities that there are pathways for American Football players into the USA education system.  As Vai Sikahema put it “Money comes and it goes but education is there forever”.  His strong opinion, shared by Reno and Ma’a, was that there are opportunities for the Polynesian players in Auckland to follow that path and get a great education in the USA College system.  The chance of becoming a NFL player is statistically greater for Polynesian players however not everyone makes that level but the education qualifications gained on that journey will provide a lasting benefit to the players and their families.   
 
Vai, Reno and Ma’a all commented on how their pathways provided positive results for them and their families and that Auckland, with the largest population of Pacific Islanders, could be put on the radar of the college coaches and scouts.
 
NZAFF will be actively following up with the Polynesian FHOF with respect to partnering on delivering events into the future.

Polynesian Football Hall of Fame members Vai Sikahema, Reno Mahe and Ma'a Tanuvasa will be in Auckland next week and have made themselves available to host a session for coaches and club administrators. 

The session will be a Q&A covering structuring your organisations, teams, trainings and strategies on how to get the best out of your athletes.

The proposed details are:
Venue:   Manurewa Sports Centre, Mountfort Park
Date:     Thursday 13th June
Time:     7:00pm to 8:30pm
 
We understand that this is short notice but we need to confirm the event so if you are interested in attending please let us know through an on-line form – link here - before the end of the weekend because we have to confirm the event.
 
This is an open session so anyone can attend.