Team PNG identify winning formula

Effective communication among stakeholders and better utilisation of services and facilities are two main areas that can boost Team Papua New Guinea’s Pacific Games success in the future.
These were stressed during an evaluation workshop involving the Papua New Guinea Olympic Committee (PNGOC), PNG Sports Foundation (PNGSF) and national sports federations in Port Moresby on Saturday.
Team PNG’s vision for this year’s Pacific Games was to make history on foreign soil — this was achieved by winning 131 medals, the largest medal haul at an overseas Pacific Games, and managing beat hosts Samoa to second spot on the medal table behind New Caledonia.
But Team PNG’s goal of finishing first abroad remains as they evaluate their recent performance and prepare for the 2023 Games in the Solomon Islands.
Sport Vice-Minister Wesley Raminai said effective communication was vital to Team PNG’s success.
He said this began with athletes, officials and stakeholders being honest with each other and finding solutions to improve their individual situations.
Raminai said Team PNG finishing second on the medal tally in Samoa this year was a great achievement but the country could still be the best with the right preparation.
“Part of Prime Minister James Marape’s call to ‘take back PNG’ is for everyone to reflect on how we can do better in everything we do and I want to challenge us all to take back the Pacific Games,” he said.
Raminai highlighted that the new national sports policy, currently being finalised, would provide the guidance needed to see sports in PNG excel.
The use of existing facilities and services is another major area that should be utilised by sports during their preparations.
A report from the National Sports Institute (NSI) during the workshop showed that athletes and teams who used their facilities in Goroka had a higher success rate, with Athletics PNG (APNG) used as a case in point.
APNG athletes who were based at NSI in the lead-up to the Games won more medals than any other sport for Team PNG in Samoa.
High Performance Sport PNG also shared a similar view but stressed the need for sports to begin their high performance programme more than two years before the Games.
During that time, they can also be using their own sports events as a lead-up to the Games.
NSI representative Samu Sasama encouraged teams to consider using these facilities before going overseas because they had the same world-class standard and were more affordable and easily accessed.
PNGOC performance coordinator Chris Amini shared an analysis of Team PNG’s performance at the Games that noted which sports had achieved their own performance goals.
Officials from the sports were asked evaluate what was done and how things could have been done better.
It was also pointed out that 67 per cent of gold won by Team PNG at the 2019 Games were won by female athletes with Toea Wisil the most successful individual. She won four gold and a silver.
Touch rugby was the only sport to have a 100 per cent return rate by winning all the gold on offer in the sport.
PNGOC president Sir John Dawanincura said athletes were number one when it came to sport and that’s why it was important to have good communication between them, their officials and sporting administrators.
Good communication and better use of resources are essential in the preparation of teams for every international event. Sir John said federations were the drivers who put in the time and effort to make their sport and athletes the heart of Team PNG.
“I know the circumstances with preparing for these Games were difficult and so created an added burden to your roles as sports administrators, coaches and athletes,” he said.
“But these are the realities we face and by working together, we can overcome them.
“I believe we did do PNG proud.  We had our best ever overall medal result at an overseas Games and finished second on the medal table. But there is always room for improvement.
“There is always a need for self-reflection and evaluation. There are always things that we can do better.”
For the PNGOC, the workshop was a new direction in communicating important aspects of reviewing Team PNG’s performance with all stakeholders.
PNGOC’s practice has been to hold a workshop after the Games to share information with the sports.
Traditionally, participation at the workshops has been at the National Federation President and Executive level.
“This time, we have expanded the participation to include the officials and athletes,” PNGOC secretary-general Auvita Rapilla said.
“This is because everybody plays an important role in the performance of their sport and each of them bring an important perspective to the table.”
Team PNG’s 39 gold, 57 silver and 35 bronze medals in Samoa was their highest achievement abroad so far and provides enough room for improvement as they turn their focus to 2023 with a Team PNG planning workshop scheduled for February.