NATIONAL soccer coaching director Carlos Buzzetti has forwarded a proposal to the Fiji Football Association to introduce an under-15 and under-13 league competition outside of school.
He said the league was part of a strategic plan that would assist with the development of the sport at grassroots level.
Earlier this week, the Uruguayan said Fiji's youths lacked football skills and were just being given the ball to play with, without being taught the correct basic skills and tactics of football.
He said in order to breed the next generation of national reps, they must introduce a competition outside of school to quicken the development process.
"I know they have a competition in schools and within schools but then that's it, there is nothing outside that," Buzzetti said.
"We need to have a league competition outside school so the under-15 and under-13 year olds can continue to play and develop their skills and understanding of soccer," he said.
He said it was important for Fiji to introduce such a competition soon as skilful players were becoming very hard to find.
"If we start now, in a few years time we will have a set of under-17 and under-20 national reps.
"Also, it would be good for the districts as they can take in these local players rather than getting players from overseas which is expensive and not winning anything."
Buzzetti said the lower they took the development age limit the better it would be for the sport.
"We could even start and under-9 and under-11 tournament so players start early and grow with the sport and become better as they age.
"If we implement this the right way, we will have a set of good local players who can become future national reps," he said.