Federations urged to lift sport standard at PNG Games

By HENRY MORABANG
WEST New Britain Governor Sasidran Muthuvel has called on all national sporting federations to do their part in lifting the standard of their sports at the PNG Games.
Muthuvel made this remarks during the closing of the PNG Games in Kimbe last Saturday.
He thanked the national federations for taking the lead in running the competitions during the Nov 18-Dec 2 event.
He said the standard of the competition displayed during the PNG Games varied because athletes from bigger centres were more advanced as they had access to good facilities while others did not.
Muthuvel wants to see national federations conducting regular coaching or training for coaches, setting regular competitions and most importantly, running development programmes.
He said PNG Games should be for junior or development teams from provinces instead of seasoned athletes.
The Governor also called on the PNG Games council to review the participation criteria.
He said he did not want seasoned athletes taking part in the PNG Games.
Muthuvel said further he was proud of the new facilities built for the Games in his home town.
He appealed to the 350,000 people of West New Britain to take pride of the brand new facilities and use them with care. It cost WNB Provincial Government K4 million to build the San Remo sports precinct for the Games.
To make use of the facilities, WNB Provincial Government with partnership with PNG Sports Foundation will submit an expression of interest to host the Melanesian Games in Kimbe.
The Governor said hosting international sporting events was a dream but with political will and support from the corporate sector including the government, WNB stood a chance of hosting another major sporting event in future.