Talent ID programme works to get kids interested

TOP Papua New Guinea weightlifter and coach Dika Toua was among a group of Oceania’s leading athletes who were commended for their part in helping the Oceania Talent Identification Programme.
The OTIP was first implemented in Apia, Samoa, in 2012 by Dr Tamas Ajan, president of the International Weightlifting Federation, whilst he attended the 2012 Oceania Championships and London Olympic Qualification.
The OTIP has been successfully operating with the support of the IWF for the past six years.
The idea of implementing this programme was to create interest amongst the youth, particularly in the Pacific Island nations.
To expose them to weightlifting.
The exercise that OWF (Oceania Weightlifting Federation) chose was the power clean and jerk, which is the easiest movement for youth to attempt and master.
The OTIP now has hundreds of youth who have taken on the sport in the last six years. Some of them have successfully gone on to compete internationally.
This enormous growth could not have been achieved without the support of the federations who took part in the programme and officials like Toua (PNG), Jerry Wallwork (Samoa), David Katoatau (Kiribati), Jenly Wini (Solomon Islands), Joe Vueti (Fiji), Dominic Cain and Quincy Detenamo (Nauru), Manuel Minginfel (Micronesia), Logona Esau (Tuvalu), Alan Tano and Narita Viliamu (Niue) and Edgar Molinos (Guam).
These individual leaders, assisted by top lifters from their respective countries, have contributed enormously to the growth of the sport in their nations.
Toua, who trains and competes out of the Oceania Weightlifting Institute in Noumea under president and coach Paul Coffa, has used the knowledge, skills and experience gained over 20 years of involvement in the sport at the elite level in her own club in Port Moresby.
These top officials have been able to convince schools to allow their students to take part in the OTIP programme under strict supervision. Safety is paramount.
The students are in no way pushed to the extreme.
The OTIP programme does not look for records but to identify young students who have the potential to become weightlifters.
The success of this programme does not end at school.
After two months of testing and recruiting students, the national federations are asked to select one or two students to attend a special training camp at the OWI.
Some of the greatest lifters from the Oceania region started their careers in the OTIP training camp.
A number of these lifters have gone on to compete and win medals at the Oceania and Commonwealth Championships, Youth Commonwealth Games and Commonwealth Games.
So far 34,287 youth took part in the programme and the OWF aims is to double these figures within the next four years.