Paralympic committee content with HPS centre

The National Sports

By ISAAC LIRI
THE Oceania Paralympic Committee is content with the progress of the High Performance Sports PNG under the PNG Sports Foundation in terms of the running para sport talent camps.
In a recent talent camp in Port Moresby, lead coach and mentor for Oceania Paralympic Committee and International Paralympic Committee Christopher consultant coach Nunn was present to help identify potential para athletes.
“I’m very excited with what I’ve seen for para sport in PNG, working with the PNG Sports Foundation and High Performance Sport has been fantastic,” Nunn said.
“I have already seen five or six athletes in the talent camp which we’ll have to be targeting for the long term.
“We’ll target some of these athletes and train them for events like the mini games, regional competitions and world para athletics.  They can represent PNG at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games.
“I’m really pleased to see some athletes with natural abilities and I’m sure they don’t even know their potential so the important element is to align them now with coaches.
“I’m really pleased with what the PNG Sports Foundation does in talent identification and it makes the job a lot easier. They know what a good athlete should look like and what qualities they should have.
“We don’t want older people, we want younger athletes that we can train and by integrating them with the foundation and with support from the International Paralympic Committee, we can provide a lot of opportunities for them to become role models in the communities.
“We not only have to look for athletes that can perform but we look for role models who can show the rest of the community what people with disabilities can do so that they do not have to be shut at homes.
“We are looking for athletes for athletics, table tennis and powerlifting as the major sports we target for future competitions.
“I just want to let people in PNG out there know that if you know of someone who has disability and is willing to become an athlete, please contact the HPS or the PNG Sports Foundation so they can help,” Nunn said.