Provincial c’ships seen as pathway

PROVINCIAL athletics championships provide a pathway for raw talent from the village level to be exposed.
With the national championships scheduled for Aug 23-25, several provinces have started planning for their championships.
The Gulf Athletics Association (GAA) is one of the affiliates of Athletics PNG that will be staging its championships this month (July 21-13) at the Malalaua High School.
GAA president Lily Tua said the provincial championships paved the way for aspiring athletes from the grassroots to earn a place in Team PNG via the national championships. The dangling carrot for them is next year’s Pacific Games in Samoa.
“We need to showcase these youngsters at the provincial championships. Some of the athletes are based in Port Moresby and the majority is from the province,” Tua said.
“We didn’t have the opportunity to showcase our talents from the province at the PNG Games last year.
“That’s why we want to do it in the coming national championships.
“But before that, we need to have our provincial championships to select our best athletes.”
GAA will be looking at selecting 20 athletes from the provincial championships to represent the province at the nationals.