Taking baby steps toward the big leagues

Small Pacific nation kicks off plan to join soccer's international ranks

BRISBANE, Australia — Lloyd Owers recalls with fondness his initial visit from his home in England to the Marshall Islands, a small nation of five islands, 29 atolls and about 60,000 people situated in the western Pacific Ocean between Hawaii and Australia.

"I felt at home," the 33-year-old soccer coach said of his first impressions. "The community welcomed me with open arms."

Owers wasn't there as a widely traveled Brit checking it out as a tourist. He was appointed technical director of the Marshall Islands Soccer Federation in December last year, and was making his first official visit in August in that capacity.

Oh, by the way, the Marshall Islands has no national soccer team. It's been touted as the "last country on Earth" without international representation in the sport.

"Yes," Owers reiterated in an email correspondence with The Associated Press. "We are the only UN-recognized nation that has never had a national representative team."

Enter Owers, a highly qualified coach based in Oxfordshire in southeast England and who has provided his expertise to teams in Canada, the US and Sweden, among others.

The Marshall Islands is not a member of FIFA, soccer's international governing body. The country's first attempt to join an official regional soccer organization could come with the Oceania Football Confederation or the Asian Football Confederation.