Digicel Cup coaches meet

THE Papua New Guinea National Rugby League Competition inaugural two-day coaching conference kicked off at the Oil Search National Football Stadium yesterday in Port Moresby.
Present to open the conference was PNG Rugby Football League chairman Sandis Tsaka, PNGNRLC manager Stanley Hondina, SP PNG Hunters coach Michael Marum and PNG Olympics Committee rep Chris Amini, who is a facilitator of the conference.
The participants of the conference include coaches of the 12 Digicel Cup clubs, their assistant coaches and other staff.
Tsaka said the main objective of the conference was to ensure that all Digicel Cup coaches were on the same page and heading in the same direction. “We’re having this conference because we want the working relationship between all coaches and administrators to function with a common goal and wherever they are in PNG, they must be doing the same thing,” Tsaka said.
“This conference will need all coaches to give their feedback on what they do, how they do it and why they do it so in that way we can develop programmes that will help our common goal, and that is growing the game, our national sport, rugby league.
“Coaches and administrators at the Digicel Cup are the men on the group and what input they provide will give us a clearer picture on how we can improve the elite level as well as at other levels of our structure,” he said. “We have a new 10-year strategy (2019-2029) already in place and we will present it in the upcoming annual general meeting after our four-year plan (2014-2018) ended last year.”
Hondina said improving coaching and management of the game would have a positive effect on the game particularly as it related to violence.
“We have to be open minded as coaches even though we want our team to win, we have to understand the common good of the game, and this conference purposely aims to get such outcomes,” Hondina said.
All participants were also encouraged to use their Digicel Cup franchises as agents of change and participate in community engagement programmes.