Athletics officials gather in Kokopo for workshop

ATHLETICS personnel from around PNG gathered in Kokopo, East New Britain last weekend, for a strategic planning workshop.
All affiliated associations were represented at the meeting, as well as coaches, technical officials, athletes, the PNG Olympic Committee, PNG Sports Foundation, National Department of Education, National Sports Institute, NCD Commission, the Department of East New Britain and the host organising committee for the 2012 PNG Games.
The workshop was facilitated by Atma Maharaj, the architect of  Fiji’s domination of athletics in 1991 to 2009 where Fiji teams on average secured 14 gold medals in Pacific Games athletics competitions.
Maharaj has expertise in not only strategic planning, but sponsorship and marketing, team management and high performance programmes.
PNG Athletics Union president Tony Green said the workshop was part of the process of developing a five-year plan for athletics, a process which started earlier this year but had to be put on hold because administrators were tied up with the Pacific Games preparations.
He said if PNG was to come out on top at the 2015 Pacific Games in Port Moresby, then work should start now.
PNG Sports Federation and Olympic Committee secretary-general Auvita Rapilla was a special guest at the opening of the workshop last Friday.
Major sponsor of the strategic plan for athletics, the National Gaming Control Board (NGCB) was represented by Imelda Agon.
Other sponsors of the workshop were Olympic Solidarity with a grant of US$5,000 and the East New Britain Development Authority with K5,000.