Sports motivates Booth

THE parable of the mustard seed is that it must die so it may have life.
Ideally, the mention of Tahina Booth will remind avid local sport followers of the 2015 Pacific Games when she fell short of representing the country in powerlifting.
She had not received her dual citizenship in time.
That would have been the end of it many would have thought.
Instead the part Iokea and Australian lass took a seed out from the experience and out from it sprouted the Grass Skirt Project, a not-for-profit charity (www.grassskirtproject.org) that identifies areas of need in community sports, focusing on women and sources funds and materials to empower their development and identify talent.
Many who have been inspired to start a project will know how easy it is discussing and throwing around ideas that look good on paper.
The hardest part is putting words into action.
That is where the passion deep inside comes into play and Booth has tons of it.
“To describe myself in a nutshell, I am ambitious, empowered and my passion is sports; I live and breathe this lifestyle every single day,” Booth said.
“Sport for me is not just about playing a game and catching up with mates.
“Sport has been an integral part of my educational and professional development as a person.
“I have learnt more about life’s highs and lows through playing rugby league and learnt that my intrinsic motivation stems from something deep within myself; to prove that I am capable and can do what I desire most in life.
“I owe this empowerment to believing that if I could win on and off the field and apply these same principles in other areas of life.
“One of my greatest features is the ability to network and engage communities to promote positive messages. I am a strength athlete and compete in Olympic weightlifting and am working towards making the 2018 Commonwealth Games team for Australia.
“I have been competing in this sport for two years and before that was powerlifting and playing football, surf rowing, athletics, basketball, volleyball and tennis,” Booth said. The Grass Skirt Project was born when High Performance Sport PNG boss Aaron Alsop arranged for Booth to trial for a position on the Pacific Games team in powerlifting.
While training back home with some of the members of the powerlifting team, she learned of how training with sophisticated equipment was new and for many it was their first time.
“I saw shoe swapping on competition day between sets and coaches explaining how to lift,” Booth said.
“What I saw was a real need for equipment and positive role models.  PNG has potential world-class athletes in every village and I believe that Grass Skirt Project and partners like HPPNG can identify future women leaders.”
“Grass Skirt Project delivers used sports equipment and gives healthy doses of inspiration to women across PNG in an effort to empower women and change attitudes about the role of girls and women in society through sport.
“We partner with PNG sports organisations that believe in gender equality and help them by with donated equipment which will enable them to deliver more sporting programmes to all.
“The power of playing a sport to change the lives of all women is undeniable.
“Women and girls who play sport have higher levels of self-confidence and self-esteem, they are less likely to have an unintended pregnancy.
“ Most are more likely to get better grades in school and to graduate than girls who do not play sports,” Booth said.