Anti-doping awareness for athletes

The National Sports

By JAMIE HARO
THE Oceania Regional Anti-Doping Organisation (Orado) will carry out awareness programmes to educate athletes on the importance of anti-doping prior to and during regional and international events, an official says.
Former PNG swimmer and World Anti-Doping Agency council member Ryan Pini said the awareness was vital for athletes in the Oceania and Pacific region to be aware and prepare for these anti-doping tests prior to big sporting events.
“We want athletes to understand what the anti-doping process is all about before they even get to their events which can be the Pacific Games, Commonwealth and even the Olympics,” Pini said.
“To be able to bring that sort of educational awareness back to our region is vital, especially with the ‘voices of the athletes’ programme which we run mostly at the Pacific Games, to do a big awareness drive for young athletes coming through.”
Pini said having a good insight on anti-doping would help Team PNG athletes.
“We don’t want to see athletes (especially first timers) coming to get their first doping test and get nervous during the process,” he said.
“We know the regional events such the Pacific Games is a big pathway to the other events like Commonwealth Games and Olympics and we would like to start off from there.
“Orado’s already working on the programme to have a good education and awareness system.
“They’ll be on the ground during the Pacific Games to work with athletes to discuss everything around anti-doping.”
Pini said the athletes commission would stage an awareness programme for Team PNG athletes prior to the games in the Solomon Islands in November.
“We need to educate the broader range of athletes, hopefully that can trickle down to the younger athletes as well,” he said.
“It’s not just the older athletes that need to understand this. The whole aim is just to make sure that we have a safe sport and everyone is competing fairly.”
Meanwhile, Pini attended a World Anti-Doping Agency Symposium in Switzerland last week with fellow council members.

PNGOC gets K50,000 sponsorship for event

The K50,000 sponsorship by Theodist will help athletes like Rayleen Kaputin and others taking part in the Pacific Games in Honiara, Solomon Islands from November to December this year. – picture supplied

By PATRICIA KEAMO
THE Papua New Guinea Olympic Committee (PNGOC) has received a sponsorship support of K50,000 yesterday from Theodist Ltd towards helping Team PNG athletes compete in international events this year.
The sponsorship was a renewed commitment of the company’s annual support to PNGOC that spanned over 20 years, with the aim to see athletes excel in the sporting arena.
PNGOC secretary general Auvita Rapilla thanked Theodist saying the funding would cater for its administrative work and assist with Team PNG’s upcoming fundraising activities including the Trukai Fun Run.
“It’s these kind of support that helps us ensure that we can get our (Team PNG) athletes to the different games,” Rapilla said.
“We are extremely grateful for this support.
“It makes a lot of difference and goes a long way in helping us with our administration costs.
“For any team to go away in any games, there’s a lot of administrative work and operational work as well so this support helps us drive the engine room at the PNG Olympic Committee.
“That’s the engine room for Team PNG that makes sure we have our teams ready, and able get teams to the games.
“We have games every year and this year we have two games, the Commonwealth Youth Games (Trinidad and Tobago in August) and the Pacific Games (Solomon Islands in November), as well as the Olympic Games next year that we are preparing for.”
Theodist’s national sales and marketing manager Kevin Anderson said sports promoted positive change in society and commended PNGOC for providing a platform for athletes to excel in life.
“We are proud to support the PNGOC’s great work for over 20 years in promoting the development of sports in Papua New Guinea,” Anderson said. “We hope this sponsorship will help young Papua New Guineans excel in sports and be exemplary role models and ambassadors representing the country at multi-sport events, unifying the nation through their sporting excellence.” Steven Abraham, a para-athlete representing Team PNG in this year’s Pacific Games, thanked Theodist for its continued commitment to promoting national cohesion through sports.