Sports on the cusp of something good

 SPORT remains one of Papua New Guinea’s most cherished past times. 

Some say it is one of the best and most effective tools for creating awareness and passing on messages. 

It is a binding agent in a country of several hundred languages and cultures. 

Rugby league is, of course, deemed the country’s national sport, but there are a wide array of codes that people participate week in, week out and year in year out. As the country moves into the new millennium it is becoming apparent that there is a change taking place in sports. 

We are moving from the casual, recreational approach to the structured and professional. It is a change that other countries in our region and the rest of the world have witnessed in varying degrees at some stage in their histories. 

There are more opportunities for the elite athlete now then there ever was at any time in PNG’s 38-year history. 

The pressure to change and improve has always been there. 

Internally, we can be our own harshest critics when it comes to performance on the international stage but now the pressure is on to start performing on the world stage. 

Admittedly, PNG has some way to go before it can be perceived as a genuine heavyweight in any sport but over the past five to six years the signs have been encouraging. 

Sports are starting to become more streamlined and are being administered following international and regional standards. 

The Hunters are a prime example of what good funding, the right technical and administrative support can achieve. The talent, as everyone is realising now has always been there, it was just never given the chance to develop and blossom. 

Players are starting to reap the benefits of a concerted approach, a professional approach. 

Mark Mexico and Wellington Albert are two rugby league players who have opened doors for themselves in Australia’s National Rugby League. They are success stories just for taking that step, and whether they make it pales in comparison to the fact that they are promoting Papua New Guineans as marketable athletes in the world of professional sports. 

It has been too long a wait between drinks for the next Marcus Bai to emerge but the reality is that there will be not one, two or three but seven or eight players of NRL quality waiting to be given the chance. 

The Hunters’ fortunes in the Queensland Cup will mirror the road PNG sport is taking at the moment. 

There may be hiccups along the way but we could well be on the cusp of a golden age of PNG sport – a true golden age when you consider that fact that at no other time since 1975 have so many sports look set to rise. 

In soccer, Hekari United will continue to carry the flag for professionalism but other clubs in the National Soccer League are following suit by bringing in the expertise to harness our local potential. 

Admiralty and Oro have invested in overseas talent in the coaching and playing ranks. 

New Zealand soccer legend Wynton Ruffer has been engaged by the PNGFA to oversee soccer development. 

In netball, the Pepes are a team on the rise, having improved over the course of the past 18 months. Consistency has been a big part of their performance. 

In athletics, Toea Wisil is still pushing to break the national 100 metres record of 11.37 seconds set by Mae Koime in 2007 but she has been good enough over the past two seasons to be considered in the top three of Australian sprinters. 

Breaking the record is not out of the question; the bonus is that she could do it while winning a medal at this year’s Commonwealth Games or perhaps at the 2015 Pacific Games. 

Other athletes have started to reap the benefits of quality training with Sharon Kwarula and Wala Gime setting new national records in the hurdles. 

Cricket, AFL, rugby union, basketball, volleyball, weight-lifting and Paralympic sports are making headway in their own right. 

We may have been the minnows of sport on the world stage for a long time but it is clear that progress is being made and the country is on track to becoming a force in sports.