Hosts claim Games boasting rights

 Morobe are the 2014 PNG Games champions with a 65 gold medal haul to round off the sixth edition of the event. 

With an 803-member team, the biggest at the Games, and home ground advantage, Morobe surged to the overall lead by Thursday after doing no better than fourth from Day 1 to Day 11, true to their governor’s promise of being the province that would be on the top by the final day.  

Morobe’s nearest rival was 14 gold medals back. The National Capital District won 51 gold medals, while Central claimed 48 gold medals and the Autonomous Region of Bougainville was a surprise fourth on the medal tally with 35 gold.

Central, by virtue of the fact that most of their talent is derived from athletes who play in the national capital, will always have a competitive team and they proved that by leading the medal count for several days during these Games.

Bougainville, on the other hand, is a great example of what can happen when a provincial government gives sport the resources and funding to develop.  

Other provinces that continued their strong form at the Games were East New Britain, Eastern Highlands and Chimbu.

There is a reason for that, East New Britain and Eastern Highlands have hosted the Games before and both provinces have some of the better sports facilities and infrastructure. Chimbu have a strong athletics programme because of its proximity to Eastern Highlands. 

Goroka is the home of the National Sports Institute, while the presence of Athletics PNG president Tony Green in Kokopo means many of the province’s best runners and sprinters are under constant guidance and supervision. 

These factors were reflec­ted in the performances of these three provinces at the Games with East New Britain, Eastern Highlands and Chimbu doing well in the athletics programme.

Morobe and NCD will always be competitive at any Games given the quality of athletes at their disposal and the resources they have access to, so it was encouraging to see a province like Bougainville finish so highly on medal tally.

The multi-sport event, which started on November 16, came to a close on Saturday, ending the biggest Games. The Bank South Pacific-sponsored event had the be­nefit of being the best funded Games so far with an estimated K17 million given to organisers by the national and host provincial government as well money garnered from corporate sponsorship.

Still there were problems experienced at the Games. Some can be resolved immediately without the expansion of significant resources while others will need to be better funded and organised in order to deliver the required service. Firstly, the rules governing the use of elite level athletes must be re-examined. The PNG Games Council has to decide whether national and international level athletes can take part at the Games and in what capacity.

However organisers chose to regulate this area, they must be firm and work out a criteria or system that ensures the fairest possible outcome for all because not every province has access to this kind of talent.

Secondly, something has to be done about the updating of the medal tally. As was experienced at the last Games in 2012, the quick, accurate and efficient updating of the tally was a problem. Information getting to the main sports office has to be done in a much more professional manner. Even, the Games website, as in 2012, was a waste of time, with next to no information added daily to update followers. The Facebook page has been updated but the main website needed to be managed better.

The event also had for the first time local and international ambassadors. Former Australian rugby league star Scott Prince was the international representative while Toea Wisil was the notable local athlete promoting the Games. 

The PNG Games can no longer be considered simply a “grassroots” event, even though it aims to cater for a wider number of talent from the provinces, the direction that the Games is headed makes it inevitable that the event is on a scale, in terms of numbers and sports and quality, comparable to the Pacific Games.