KEKEI Soccer Club player Demosol Manama is grateful to the Moukele Beach Soccer Association for giving him an opportunity to shine this season.

This follows after Kekei claimed their first beach soccer title following their 9-6 win over Waikiki in the MBSA grand final over the weekend on Fisherman Island.

“Being introduced to this pilot project has helped me be the best version of myself as footballer.”

“I’ve been playing normal football for a while however since the beach soccer was introduced on the island it changed everything for and I’d like to thank PNG Football Association for bringing this sport to our island.”

Only two seasons since the project took off, Moukele became the first association to send a national team known as PNG Paewas (Sharks) to the 2024 Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) Beach Soccer Men’s Nations Cup in Solomon Islands.

Manama was privileged to make the final squad and travelled to Honiara to compete against powerhouses Tahiti, Fiji and hosts Solomon Islands.

PNG created history on debut as Manama scored the first and fastest goal in international beach soccer history during the 2024 OFC Beach Soccer Men’s Nations Cup in just 1.5 seconds when the kickoff whistle blew.

The Paewas opening match also stunned the football community when they defeated Fiji 8-6 on debut.

“It was my first time playing in another country, I was nervous but also lost for words when I scored that first goal.”

“Returning from that tournament, me and two other fellow team mates within the Kekei SC, used our experience to help our team perform well in our local competition.”

Manama said the young boys in their local team were inspired and had to train extra harder to make it as far as the finals.

“We encouraged the boys to play and use a few techniques of what we learnt in Solomon Islands and continued on from there to train extra hard and work our way into the grand finale.”

“It has helped us gain more momentum since its inception and we are all grateful,” he added.