Athletics PNG schedule major events at end of 2021

The National Sports

ATHLETICS Papua New Guinea (APNG) has released its updated calendar of events now that it has become clear that there will be no PNG Games this year.
“The timing of major domestic competitions, especially the national championships and PNG Games need to fall in line with international events and a November PNG Games would have been a key competition in selection for 2022 international events,” APNG president Tony Green said in statement yesterday.
“We know from experience that in a PNG Games year, there will not be a good attendance at the national championships if it is staged too close to the Games, for the simple reason that teams can’t afford to travel twice within a short time.”
Hence the PNG Air National Championships were originally set for June.
“However even as early as April, there were serious doubts that the Games would go ahead so we decided to postpone the championships and confirm a date towards the end of the year once the situation became clear,” Green said.
Athletics will now have a number of major events towards the end of the year.
These events will form a key part in selecting athletes for the Pacific Mini Games in June next year.
“The team will be announced early in 2022 but athletes will be required to maintain a strong training commitment and perform well in the final trials in March,” Green said.
The Southern and New Guinea Islands Championships will be staged in Port Moresby and Kokopo respectively during the first half of November and the national championships in Kimbe will be held from Dec 3-5.
The second part of the Grand Prix series, originally slated for September, will be held in Kimbe from Nov 26-29.
West New Britain (WNB) will stage its championships in Kimbe during the third-term school holiday (Sept 25-26).
“We will conduct training for technical officials in Kimbe from Sept 23-24, ahead of the WNB championships and in Kundiawa from Dec 13-14,” Green said.
“Coaching courses are also scheduled for Kokopo (Nov16-18) and Kundiawa (Dec 15-17).”