By GBRIEL KATUHO
HEKARI United FC is taking the lead in developing and upskilling its players by integrating both the international and local players with an aim of improving football level in the country.
Last year (2024), the club welcomed two Brazilian players, Erick Joe Ribeiro Moreira Lopes and Vinicius Reis Kryzozun, to help the academy and play in the club.
The Brazilian duo will be travelling back after they ended their year with Hekari United by winning the Premier Soccer league grand final in 2024, and after reaching the 2025 OFC grand final in Honiara, Solomon Island.
Hekari Boss, Mrs. Wonnie Kapi Natto said the duo had a work permit to reside in Papua New Guinea to help the Hekari academy, and now the Hekari Management will be sending them back to go and rest.
She said the club will come together and see if they need to call them back for their assistance.
Mrs. Natto thanked them for their input in the team and looking forward for future integration of international players to elevate the club’s performance.
“I think we manage it not in a costly way, but in an affordable way to our international and our domestic players.
“I don’t want to treat everyone differently; I treated international and national players the same, including all our younger ones. But I just hope and wish that other clubs can do the same,” the Hekari Boss stated.
“This is to help not only our cubs but lift our competition to another level and I’m not hesitant to bring more players into our team,” she added.
Mrs. Natto said, other clubs have many sponsors and should be looking at spending just a portion of their money to bring international players and help boost the local competition.
“I think Lae city FC have done that in the past. It was a very good competition between Lae city and us in the past and I’m just hoping that it can be done by other clubs, now that the NSL is coming up for the men’s and women’s and PSL too.” Meanwhile, Mrs. Natto appealed to other clubs to work forward in bringing the level of the football in the country to the next level by integrating players from the pacific islands and other countries like Hekari United FC is doing.