The Samoa Rugby Union (SRU) has expanded its women's development programme to include Savaii. Speaking to the Samoa Observer, Tofilau Avii Faalupega, a match official and a representative from the S.R.U. said that the development program is to search and develop girls/women as players and girls/women coaches as well. 

The Union has covered colleges in Savaii, with the same schools battling it out at Don Bosco, Salelologa at the school competitions. 

"This program is for the development of females in the big island, and is a plan that was laid out last year based on the need to develop women, for the improvement and forward movement of rugby development," she said. 

"The training is for women coaches, players, and to find young women to take up being match officials. Our aim is to help the women teachers who are responsible for looking after the girls teams, to give them ideas and methods to run their teams. It's more on the foundation of rugby, rules, and teaching the ladies on safety techniques for playing rugby, and teaching some of the students who have decided to take up the role of being a match official," she added. 

The programme is run every month for one week, and it will go on for the whole year. The schools that are taking part are Itu-o-Tane, Palauli-i-Sisifo, Savaii-i-Sisifo, Palauli, Uesiliana, and Don Bosco College, Salelologa.

"We have noticed a lot of talent here in Savaii in our girl students, especially for some women teachers, they now have that passion to do the job as a coach."

"Our hope for this program in the big island is to have female coaches and to have that qualification and skill as a coach, to enhance their knowledge in running women's games, the other important aspects of this program is to have women as match officials to run both women’s matches and men’s matches too. Another important thing is having the union’s tournaments so that they can maintain and push the women’s clubs, to enhance their skills in playing and moving forward," she said.