Pacific Magazine > Magazine > August 30, 2007

Pac Sports

Pac Sports

By Peter Rees in Auckland

Beach Soccer
‘Bilikiki’ Chill And Thrill

Deja vu as the Solomon Islands Bilikiki players again celebrate winning the Oceania Beach Soccer crown. PHOTO: Courtesy OFC

Holding the 2007 Oceania Beach Soccer Champs in Auckland in the middle of winter was supposed to make it tough on reigning champions Solomon Islands. But even the chilly weather and the entry of New Zealand’s national team, who were absent from last year’s inaugural qualifiers, was not enough to stop the Bilikiki from again becoming the region’s “King of the Beach.”

Solomon Islands will represent Oceania again at the FIFA World Beach Soccer Cup in November in Brazil after defeating Melanesian rivals Vanuatu 5-3 in a pulsating final played on Devonport beach on Auckland’s North Shore in July. New Zealand, who were expected to surprise with the home advantage, heavier sand and familiar conditions, beat Tahiti by the same score line to finish third.

It was a much more tightly contested tournament than last year showing beach soccer’s popularity is growing around the Pacific. The game is more suited to the light framed island players and as experienced last year when the Bilikiki shocked the world by defeating African powerhouses Cameroon at the 2006 FIFA World Beach Soccer Cup, the Pacific nations can match it at that level with more exposure. It was not a walk in the park for the Solomons. This year, they were made to work hard in all their games.

But cometh the moment, cometh the stage, and Solomons’ hero James Naka, who was the star Bilikiki player at last year’s World Cup, stepped up to the plate scoring two crucial goals in the grand final against Vanuatu. It was no surprise when  he was named player of the tournament.


Rugby League
PNG League Threatens Boycott 

Action from last year’s Pacific Cup in Auckland. PHOTO: Fofoga Setoga-Tuala

Papua New Guinea has threatened to boycott the 2008 Rugby League World Cup unless the controversial format used for the tournament draw is changed. The International Rugby League Federation announced 10 teams would take part in a reduced World Cup format with the teams divided in three pools.

PNG was drawn in a “super pool” with reining world champs Australia, New Zealand and England, in effect the world’s top three league playing nations.

The top three teams in the super pool would automatically get into the semi-finals with the other team found in a playoff between the two best teams from the other pools. PNG, a top eight nation at the last World Cup held in the United Kingdom in 2000, feel they have been “grossly disrespected” by the draw and format. The PNG Rugby League Association is also a full member of the IRLF and the most senior league playing nation in the Pacific. It is considered a national sport in PNG, a nation of over 5 million people.

Marcus Bai, one of PNG’s most famous league exports who played for the Melbourne Storm (Australia NRL), Leeds and Bradford (UK Super league), and is now on the national team “Kumuls” coaching staff, was seething over the draw. “They have to change it. If they don’t, we won’t come. They have shown no respect for our country,” he told the BBC.


Rugby Union
Curtain Call For Pacific Rugby Legend

Brian Lima with wife Sina.

One player will get more attention than most when Fiji, Tonga and Samoa again lay stake their claims at the four yearly Rugby World Cup in France in September. Manu Samoa’s Brian Lima will become the first player in history to play in five World Cup tournaments.  The Pacific’s most revered and internationally recognizable rugby player will call it quits following the World Cup after a distinguished 17 year career.







Olympics
Management, Facilities Slow Progress

With tiny Tuvalu just joining the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Marshall Islands gaining membership last year, the Pacific delegation at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 will be carrying two additional flags. Kiribati, the newest IOC member at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, was high profile despite being one of the smallest sports teams. “The Olympic Games are good promotion (for small islands),” says Dennis Miller of the Fiji-based Oceania National Olympic Committee (ONOC) office.

But while a handful of the best athletes from the Pacific will get their 15 minutes of fame in Beijing, back home sports management and lack of sports facilities may be the two biggest inhibitors of competitive progress in sports. Ironically, it’s not just the smaller islands that see problems with facilities. “Even Fiji is stretched with facilities,” Miller says. “You’ll often see national volleyball and netball teams practicing outdoors in parking lots because they can’t afford the charge to use the government-run gyms.”

Many islands have benefited from the infusion of government funds for hosting South Pacific Games or Micronesian Games, but too often maintenance of those facilities falters after the buzz of the competition wears off.

As National Olympic Committees in each of the islands get more
experience, they’re realizing that professionally-run NOCs can leverage greater international funding and other support to develop national sports programs. Two of these NOCS, says Miller, are setting an example for the region: Palau and the Solomon Islands. Miller says these are “good models” of government-NOC collaboration that are producing more support for sports and also ensuring that the facilities are maintained and operated by the people with the biggest interest in their longevity.