Sporting codes look towards a better 2012

By HENRY MORABANG
JUST three days into the New Year and the national sports governing bodies and sportsmen and women have made their resolution on how to take on the brand new sporting season.
A lot of sportsmen and women had given up when their respective sports administrators fought and decided to settle their disputes in court instead of reaching a solution in the board room.
The focus for this year would be the 2012 London Olympics from July 27 to Aug 12 and the PNG’s very own “Grassroots Olympic”, the PNG Games in Kokopo, East New Britain, the following month.
Many sports commentators did not mention last year’s Pacific Games in Noumea, New Caledonia, where PNG finished disappointedly in fourth spot despite receiving good funding from the government.
Apart from the focus to the 2015 Pacific Games in Papua New Guinea, the PNG Sports Federation and the PNG Sports Foundation need to pull their socks up in terms of talent identification programmes.
The two lead sporting organisations are waiting for the government to release funds so the preparatory work towards 2015 can start.
But can they achieve this within the two years?
The preparation also had a set-back when one of their committee members, who is the chairman of the venue, infrastructure equipment committee Graham Osborne was deported recently for allegedly involving in the political impasse in recent weeks.
Osborne categorically denied his involvement in any political dealings except that he is a close friend of Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare.
In order to be competitive, PNG must start with the PNG Games.
The Games is set to go down as the most expensive sporting event since the 1991 South Pacific Games.
With government funding to be K16.5 million, the Kokopo Games will easily eclipse all previous PNG Games with the majority of the funding (K10 million) to go into infrastructure development alone.
The first three games in Goroka and Lae, which were called the Grassroots Olympics, were self-funded while the Port Moresby Games in 2009 received K1.2 million from the government making the K6 million earmarked for games preparations alone the single biggest contribution from the state.
But the money should be well spent and accounted for with the Sir Rabbie Namaliu-chaired local organising committee working closely with the PNG Sports Foundation and various other stakeholders including the PNG Sports Federation and Olympic Committee to ensure that the province is ready to welcome teams from the 19 provinces.
The Games is also seen as a trial-run for the 2015 Pacific Games because it will involve the largest number of athletes converging on one location testing organisers’ capabilities.
The biennial event is scheduled for 2014 as well.
Locally, the rugby league fraternity is praying for a better year when PNG Rugby Football League (PNGRFL) holds its meeting at the end of this month.
Likewise, the stakeholders of the game are hoping that parties come together and the AGM elects someone who could restore the credibility of the game.
In soccer, it would be a busy year for football in the Oceania region.
Both the men and women’s soccer team’s will take part in the World Cup qualifier in Suva, Fiji, in March.
They must at least win matches to improve their ranking and hopefully qualify for the next round with New Zealand.
Apart from the World Cup qualifier, the PNG national club championships, Hekari United, need to step up and win the remaining matches to contest for a spot in the World Club championships.
Other sports also have their own regional tournaments they need to attend to meet their criteria for the international sporting events.