By SAMPSON BONAI
THIS year will go down in history book as a successful sporting year in Morobe as the province successfully hosted the third PNG Games and won more than 100 medals to top the 17 provinces that took part in the Grassroots Olympics.
Forward planning, backed by corporate and government sponsors, early team preparations and better sporting facilities helped the home team to soar above all other provinces taking part in the games.
Morobe fielded teams in all the sports contested - soccer, basketball, volleyball, basketball, netball, athletics, bodybuilding, weightlifting, hockey, golf, bowls, rugby league, rugby touch and rugby union including the disabled athletes and the results was indicated in the overall medal tally after the end of the games.
Morobe provincial government was supportive and committed more than K150,000 towards the hosting of the games. It also appointed its officers to the host organising committee that was headed by retired colonel Joseph Bau Maras who was supported by experienced sports administrators like Bami Sorekeine and Yanding Yawasing.
The provincial government also appointed an experienced manager Tokey Mambare to look after more than 600 athletes and officials from Team Morobe as its general team manager and he came home with a total medal haul of more than 100.
Mambare had the support of his sports advisor Ludwig Peka and officers James Kabi (soccer), Tommy Young (athletics), Michael Waimba (basketball) and Nathan Keputong (volleyball) who properly screened all the athletes before making a final selection based on form.
Athletes from the outer districts of Menyamya, Biaru, Garaina, Wau, Finschhafen, Sialum, Wasu, Kabwum, Wantoat, and Morobe South Coast were given the opportunity to display their hidden sporting talents and proved to everyone that there are hundreds of untapped sporting talents in the rural areas who could go far if groomed properly.
It was an eye-opener to everybody and the government must now make available funding to sports to allow officers to travel into remote areas to conduct coaching and referees clinics and to impart coaching skills to the rural coaches to upgrade their level of coaching to impart to their respective sporting teams.
Acknowledgement must be accorded to the corporate sectors like Nambawan Supa, PNG WaterBoard, Telikom PNG, and business houses such as Papindo Trading, Shorncliffe, Lae Biscuit, Homestate, Goodman Fielder International, Ahi Holdings, Bookland and PC & Woo and many individuals and their families for their financial support in cash and in kind towards Team Morobe.
In rugby league Lae had not fared too well in the SP Cup but had made its presence felt that it should be a force to be reckoned with next year.
In soccer LFA men (Wests men) and Lahi women (PNG Power women) also won the Momase soccer regional club championships respectively and will represent the region in the national club championships next year.
National Soccer League franchise team Tuguba Laitepo Morobe Kumuls is sitting on top of the NSL soccer calendar after round one of the competition. It is gearing up to make up for its two losses to maintain its top position in the points ladder in round two.
In basketball Lae excelled in the national basketball championships and the All Stars U20 championships at Ramu this year.