Pacific Magazine > Magazine > April 27, 2008

Pacsports

Pacsports

Rugby

New Samoan Court Lays Down The Law

Following a disappointing 2007 World Cup campaign, new Manu Samoa coach Tuala Niko Palamo has cleaned the slate starting with selection criteria. The former Samoan international, once a teammate of the man he replaced, former All Black great Michael Jones, has written to all of Samoa's overseas-based rugby stars that their selection to the national team will no longer be automatic. In recent years, Manu Samoa teams have been hurriedly assembled and this has shown on the field with mixed results as big name players failed to fire.

Tuala now says overseas players must attend trials in Apia if they want to be considered in future, and that includes this year's IRB Nations Cup against Tonga, Fiji, New Zealand Maori, Japan and Australia A, and the upcoming 2011 World Cup qualifiers. The move has proved popular with locals who for years have lamented the limited opportunities afforded to homegrown players. Supporters point to the success of the Samoa Sevens team on the IRB World Series circuit as proof locals can play at international level.

But ultimately Tuala will be judged on results, and while he is a former Manu Samoa Sevens coach and a past coach of some of Samoa's national age group teams, his experience at international 15-a-side level is limited. Tuala represented Samoa during the 1980's alongside his older brother Arona, playing in the midfield. At the time of his appointment in February, he was the CEO of the Samoa National Olympic Committee (SASNOC). He was appointed above other top contenders for the job, with his administrative background in helping to organize last year's South Pacific Games, giving him the edge.

-Peter Rees

 

Boxing

I-Kiribati Boxers Victorious In Solomons

The Frigate Boxing Club team that toured the Solomon Islands in mid-March returned victorious—winning 10 of 14 matches.

Club President Timoara Natan confirmed the competitors won five matches in the first night and another five on third night to dominate the series.

Boxing favorite Kaotinrerei Tebakatu won by a Technical Knock Out (TKO) in the middleweight, 75kg category. Andrew Kometa also TKO’d his opponent in the 81kg, light heavyweight category. The rest of the Kiribati boxers won on points.

Timoara says the Solomons tried to change tactics in the second encounter, by shifting and including new boxers, but the result was unchanged.  This is a payback visit after the Solomons toured Kiribati earlier in the year.

The Kiribati Frigate Boxers were sponsored by Derek Andrewather, the new President of the Kiribati Boxing Federation. Meanwhile, Andrewather has stated that the federation’s ultimate aim now is to participate in the coming South Pacific Games, the Commonwealth Games and the Olympics.

Preparations are underway to get the Kiribati Boxing Federation internationally registered to open the gateway to enter international events.

--Batiri Bataua

 

Micronesia

One Regional Event In Doubt, Another Canceled

An important Micronesian sub-regional sports events are in danger over the lack of a host, and a second has been canceled for lack of interest. The every-four-year Micronesian Basketball Tournament that is scheduled for Pohnpei mid-year has been cancelled because a majority of the islands did not respond by the March 14 deadline for confirming participation. Only Guam and host Pohnpei communicated with organizers. Palau requested the event be delayed to 2009, while Kiribati and Nauru face high airfares as they must fly via Australia to get to Pohnpei, located just a few hundred miles to the north. Hosting committee co-chairman Jim Tobin indicated that there is no reason to proceed if they can’t get a combined 10 men’s and women’s teams to play. Meanwhile, the sub-region’s showcase sports event, the Micronesian Games, is a tournament in search of a host for 2010. After 18-months of indecision, the Micronesian Games Council finally awarded the event to the Marshall Islands in January. After six weeks of consideration, The Marshall Islands National Olympic Committee has turned down the offer. Marshall Islands NOC President Kenneth Kramer says it cannot commit to hosting the games because of the short period of time provided and the many new facilities that need to be built. Normally, the host of the next games—which are played every four years—is decided during the event when representatives from all islands are present. For the first time since the Games were revived in 1990 after a 21-year hiatus this didn’t happen in 2006 in Saipan. No one bid for the 2010 games, and then a few months later, Marshall Islands, Yap and Kosrae submitted bids. But it wasn’t until early 2008 that the Games Council voted to go with the Marshall Islands NOC’s bid. “The time frame that they gave us is not sufficient,” Kramer says. A decision to host the event requires a major government commitment to funding new sports facilities, including a track field and lighted baseball fields, and a new government just took office last January that is faced with multiple funding issues, including major construction rehabilitation of deteriorating water and power infrastructure at Ebeye Island.

--Giff Johnson