Every Team will have a story to tell and new comers Iwoka FC, appearing for the first time in the NSL, lost to Galaxy FC by 6 goals but managed to score 4 goals that no team has scored that high against Galaxy FC this season.
They leave the pitch, but they are one champion in the Community Based Coastal Resource Management (CBCRM), something their people hold in high esteem.
This is a success story of a JICA conservation initiative.
Building strong Community-based Fisheries Management activities through promotion of football as a tool to established self discipline and team work to strengthen participatory work, has paid off for Iwoka as Champion for CBCRM Cup 2019.
JICA funded Project Grace of the Sea phase III, selected Emae Island north of Port Vila and Efate as a pilot site to promote community based fisheries management and one of the activities is to engage youth or young fishermen to understand the importance of resource management and collective team participation.
The idea is to use the rules of football as a self discipline approach in order for individual fisherman to have responsibility to protect their resources, and also similar, as a team to defend their team against another team.
Today Iwoka FC walked out a champion of CBCRM and CBCRM Cup 2019 and is the representative of Emae League 2020 and Champion of Shefa 2020 and Shefa Football Association representative in the VFF 2020 National Super league in the Southern Region.
Their team uniform has the message ‘Your fish is your future”.
