Cook Islands U15 Men’s team had their first victory in the OFC U15 Men's Development Tour defeating New Caledonia 1-0 in Auckland, New Zealand.

An incredible effort and a well-deserved win said Cook Islands Football Association (CIFA) in a social media post.

Head coach George Ellis said he was proud of the team as they have been training and developing the team to do things a little differently.

“These last few weeks we've been focused on building their knowledge on the system we're playing, fitness, and professionalism.

“We've also been teaching the team discipline, work ethic and teamwork. Today we felt the team executed most of what we have taught them these last few weeks well.

“There's still a lot to work on, the understanding of the system, spacing, pressing cues, and awareness just to name a few but overall the team did amazing, they worked really hard. They put in their shift, they defended well, we pressed hard and they most importantly played together and for each other.”
He said they still have a few games to go and part of the focus will still be on getting the team used to playing on artificial turf.

He added that the tour focus is to develop the players and that will remain the focus for the management team and himself, “but the win is a huge bonus”.

Team manager Jason Lindsay he was proud of the team and their execution and acknowledged the support of CIFA.

“Without the support of CIFA we cannot pursue and instil the systems we want to ensure the team develops and moves progressively,” Linday said.

According to OFC Media the 2025 OFC U-15 Boys Development Tournament which kicked off yesterday sees the best up and coming footballers from Cook Islands, Fiji, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Samoa, Tahiti, Tonga.

The tournament runs until 23 April.