League for Xmas

BY MELTON PAIS
THE National Capital District Governor’s Christmas Cup tournament was launched yesterday at the home of grassroots rugby league, the Kone Tigers Oval, and is set to run through the festive period from Dec 24-31.
Tournament coordinator Serigelo Skonga confirmed that 40 teams would take part in this year’s competition at Kone Tigers Oval in Waigani and Ipi Park in Hohola.
Skonga said there were more than 50 teams who showed interest but organisers decided to cut the number down to 40 and all have completed the registration process.
“This is an annual tournament in its 14th season that is run specifically for players, clubs and their fans from the different competitions in the city to participate in and celebrate Christmas,” Skonga said.
“In saying that, we are also fortunate to have the continuous support of NCD Governor Powes Parkop.”
He said an allocation of K50,000 from Parkop’s office would cover prizemoney for the top six teams, as well as administrative costs.
Consolation prizes would also be awarded to the teams that missed out on the finals in a gesture consistent with the Christmas spirit.
The NCD Governor’s Cup offers players from different competitions the chance to play each other and has seen many high-profile players, including Kumuls and Digicel Cup talent, participate not just on the field but in secondary roles as coaches, trainers, team managers, and mentors.
The tournament was also a boon for the surrounding communities, providing vendors the opportunity to sell their wares over the eight-day tournament.
Skonga confirmed that defending champions Garden Hill NAQIA and their runners-up, Freeway Bumpers, were the first teams to register for the tournament.
“We’ve decided to take in an extra eight teams from last year’s 32 because we want this tournament to be all-inclusive as much as possible and because it will be the only major rugby league tournament on at this time,” he said.
“We’ve already done up the draw and put the registered teams in their respective pools (four pools of 10).
“We’re set to go now.
Skonga said managers had been appointed to run the games at the two match venues.
He said that they would change the post-final presentations to a later date in order for Parkop to hand over the prizes and awards to the teams and players personally.