District will host first sports festival

 THE first Ijivitari District Sports Tournament is set for October 21-25 in Popondetta.

Ijivitari MP David Arore will open the tournament.

Ijivitari tournament director Gill Iagoro said five local level government wards – hosts Popondetta Urban, Afore, Safia, Tufi and Oro Bay would compete in 11 sports.

Iagoro said the tournament may attract more than 130 teams to take part in soccer, volleyball, basketball, touch football, athletics, darts, karate and cricket for men and women.

Netball will be only for women and league nines and rugby sevens for men.

He said it would be a very exciting tournament as the rural LLGs Afore, Safia, Tufi and Oro Bay would give favourites Popondetta Urban a run for their money in soccer and volleyball the main sports played in their respective wards. 

Urban will dominate the other codes of e basketball, athletics, darts and cricket but have hard time in karate from Oro Bay.

Iagoro said the tournament was to prepare sportsmen and women in Ijivitari for the Oro Provincial Games, which would be lead-up to the 2014 6th PNG Games in Lae, Morobe.

“Early preparations are better than last minute, which result in poor performance of athletes during the big events like PNG Games and national championships,” Iagoro said.