Aroma 7s tourney sees 20 best in action

By KYMLIE KARANI
THE popular Aroma Coast 7s rugby tournament is expected to attract 20 teams that will compete for the Sir Puka Temu Cup from Feb 7-10 next year.
The tournament is confirmed to be staged in Lalaura village, Abau, Central.
Tournament director Pala Leva said the 2012 tournament, which was slated earlier this year, was postponed due to weather conditions that affected the Magi Highway.
“We now are happy to advise that the dates are set and all preparations are underway for the tournament,” he said.
Leva said the AC7s organising committee had imposed strict guidelines to improve the quality of the competition, which included proper screening of teams and players.
He said nine teams that registered were Paramana, Lae Songhans, Nova, Kwapeupa, Vewala Pelagai, Viriolo Melona, Wanderers, Warumana 1and Waruman 2.
The registration deadline was Jan 25, 2013 and fee was K500 per team, Leva said.
He added that the competition would comprise a mixture of Aroma and invitational teams such as Harlequins of Port Moresby and St. Francis and Kalu Marlins of Kimbe, West New Britain.
AC 7s technical director Billy Rapilla reiterated the main aim of the tournament was to promote rugby at village level and show local talent.
“Our boys are quick learners and they are improving a lot faster,” he said.
Rapilla also said that in order to improve the quality of the game AC 7s had opened its doors up to experienced teams.
“We have already shown this by winning the Black Orchids 7s last year and providing players to the Central 7s and National 7s team,” he said.
Current national players and products of the AC 7s include Gairo Varo (Gaivakala),  Madi Ora (Kapari) and Douglas Guise (Lalaura). Other representative players who would be leading their teams were Roland Namo (Viriolo), Alova Varo (Gaivakala) and Kojo Ware (Gavuone).
“AC 7s is getting very popular every year and becoming a showpiece on the yearly calendar and the organizers wish to encourage village teams and players to respect the laws and play in the true spirit of the game,” Rapilla said.
“We want to see good display of rugby skills and hopefully discover new talent for the AC7s and Central 7s teams to promote them to the National PNG 7s Circuit.”
This tournament was sponsored by Abau MP Sir Puka Temu for K50,000 and other sponsors were Trukai Industries, Remington Technologies and Pacific MMI.
Rapilla said the tournament would also promote the HIV/AIDS, drugs/alcohol abuse and violence against women awareness messages with its ‘Unity amongst the Aroma Coastline’ slogan.
All interested teams are to contact tournament director Pala Leva on 7215 9642 or email [email protected] to register and confirm participation.