Officials accredited

By WENDY KATUSELE
TWO softball technical officials have just returned from officiating at the Australian Under 19 championships as part of the Papua New Guinea Softball Federations ‘Go for Gold’ development plan.
Chief umpire Peter Chalapan and upcoming statistician/scorer Vincent Varuna spent six days at the Hawker International Softball Centre in Canberra, Australia officiating at their respective roles in what was described as a high level competition – most of these young players were A graders in their respective associations in the country giving the two men the grasp of accreditation to 2015 Pacific Games.
Chalapan and Varuna’s trip is part of PNGSF’s development programme to develop its athletes, coaches and technical officials improve the quality of softball competitions in the country – the biggest aim to win gold again on home soil next year.
Softball has been one team sport that has a record in winning gold for PNG in the Pacific Games since 1991.
The championships which was held from January 16-22 was of high standard with certified International Softball Federation officials able to assess and evaluate the performance of both Chalapan and Varuna.
The assessment team included 2015 Pacific Games technical director and an ISF certified umpire Darren Sibraa, ISF umpires resource developer Kevin Broomhall and Phil Waller from Victoria both level eight umpires.
Following an outstanding performance Chalapan has been again invited to officiate at all future Australian Open and junior championships.
An happy Chalapan said this was a great achievement having to use the opportunity to impart his knowledge to his colleagues back here.
“It requires a lot of dedication and commitment and so much of reading and application and correct interpretation of the softball rules,” a proud Chalapan said.
He said the standard was very high as most of the junior players were playing senior grade in their respective associations and it helped raised the bar for the two of them.
PNGSF’s intentions have been made known of a gold come next July and the notion to build capacity in its technical officials and coaches making use of available funding to deliver its programme.
Chalapan and Varuna would now be able to assist PNGSF conduct refresher courses to upgrade their local counterparts as both look forward to further equipping themselves in preparation for the Pacific Games.