Tonga Football Association recruits overseas players to boost performance

Tonga Football Association (TFA) women's program manager Atelaite Tu'ivailala believes the inclusion of overseas-based players in their national squads has lifted the players' and teams' performances.

Tu'ivailala has thrown her support behind the recruitment drive for overseas-based players with Tongan links to play for their national teams.

She said the inclusion of players who play in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the USA had helped the Tongan women's Under-16, Under-19, and national senior teams in the last three years, with respective results in 2024.

"We need overseas players to strengthen our local players," she said from Nuku'alofa on Monday.

"The America-based girls came and they have the killer instincts, something our local players don't have.

"We recruited overseas players, but the majority were local players."

Tu'ivailala said the mix of local and overseas-based players had worked wonders for their sides in the last two years.

Some of the overseas-based players included sisters Laveni and Daviana Vaka, Eden Makaafi, Kuria Malohifo'ou, plus Loma McNeese from the USA.

Australia-based Jazmine Loto'aniu and Tyra Bagiante have also been part of the program, along wth Canada-based Sach Swift and Kiana Swift.

Tu'ivailala said the TFA's local development programs have taken off and more players have been making their mark as well.

"I think it is the right formula for us, having overseas-based players coming in to assist with our local players," she added.

TFA chief of football Kilifi Uele expressed optimism about the year ahead, especially with their work on securing players who play in overseas competitions.

"We are excited to unite our talented players from across the world with those being developed here in Tonga," the former Tongan national rep said.

"The upcoming tours and tournaments are an excellent opportunity to showcase the potential of Tongan football, and we are eager to see what we can achieve in 2025."

Former Texas-based player Maikeli Lomu left for Tonga with his family to join the national men's team.

"I was surprised to hear that we even had a team," he told PMN in an interview earlier this month.

Lomu, a football midfielder, sold everything and moved to Tonga to pursue his dream of playing in the FIFA World Cup.

"I was under the impression that Tongans didn't play soccer at all, because in the USA, none of them do; they all just play rugby," he said.

"I was living in the US, and we had recently sold a pottery studio that me and my wife ran, and so when we saw the post (TFA's Facebook post), I decided to sell all the rest of everything else and then my family came and joined me here in Tonga, and I got to play with the Tongan national team."

The TFA said it is now working on preparng for a competitive 2025 season, focusing on the OFC (Oceania Football Confederation) tournaments.

They have sent out an open invite to overseas-bsed players to register their interest with them.

This follows strong performances by all Tongan national teams this season.

An international tour to the US is set to be a major part of the team's buildup, with selection tours for the Under-19 women's, Under-16 women's and the men's senior teams, planned for 2025.

Tonga's commitments in 2025 includes the OFC Under-19 Women's Championships 2025 Qualifying event in March, plus the OFC Under-16 Men's Championship 2025 Qualifier in May, both events to be hosted by the TFA.

Others include the OFC Women's Nations Cup 2025 in Fiji next July, the OFC Under-16 Women's Championship 2025 in Samoa later in August plus the FIFA World Cup 2027 Oceania Qualifiers in the Cook Islands in November.

The Tonga men's senior team is ranked 199th in the world, just one spot behind Pakistan and eight places behind Cook Islands.

Their women's team is ranked 97th at the moment, four spots ahead of Samoa and also sitting above New Caledonia, Guam, Tahiti and Cook Islands.