Focus on PNG Games

ATHLETICS Papua New Guinea (APNG) has released its calendar of events for the next two years, with the main focus of 2021 being domestic competitions, including November’s PNG Games.
The PNG Air National Championships will be held from June 25-28 in Kimbe in order to ease the burden on travelling teams.
Experience has shown that a few teams can afford to travel to events in the lead-up to a PNG Games hence the national championships will be staged during the second-term holiday.
APNG has begun rotating the event between Port Moresby and Kimbe as these are the only two centres with an all-weather track.
A new feature in 2021 will be additional events in Port Moresby (April 10, 14 and 17) and Kimbe (June 5, 7 and 24) to provide more competition opportunities for athletes being targeted for national representation in 2022.
Staging these events in April and June will assist athletes to prepare for the championships, whilst PNG Air-sponsored regional events in the second half of the year will provide good lead-up competition into the PNG Games.
“We hope to be able to live stream many of the national events this year” secretary Philip Rehder said following the successful trial of live streaming in 2020.
“This was a new concept for us and we learned a few things.”
With Covid-19 still wreaking havoc on the international sporting calendar, APNG is focusing on keeping its athletes busy, so that they are ready when international competitions resume next year.
“With the distance squad training in Kerowagi in preparation for next year’s World Cross Country Championships, we expect to be able to send athletes to the Oceania Trail Championships and the Oceania 10km Championships if these events do go ahead this year,” Rehder said.
Meanwhile, a decision is expected soon on the fate of the Oceania Athletics Championships which were originally scheduled for May.
It seems unlikely that this event will proceed this year due to the current difficult situation with international flights and quarantine requirements.
A number of educational programmes are also planned this year.
There will be coaching courses in Kundiawa at the end of April and in Kimbe in June with the possibility of others being added in the second half of the year. APNG also plans to conduct educational seminars for athletes around the major competitions, utilising its senior athletes, especially those who have undertaken the Team PNG Hero training.
Looking ahead to next year, APNG wishes to make it known to athletes that selection for the Pacific Mini Games and Commonwealth Games will not be based on one championships.
“The 2022 national championships will be staged in the second half of the year,” Rehder said.
“So we will be considering performances this year especially at the national championships and PNG Games.
“However, athletes must maintain their form for obvious reasons and final selection trials in March next year will be a good measure of that.”