Team PNG prepare for Samoa 2019

Sports that will be part of Team PNG at the Pacific Games in Samoa next year have begun preparations with the aim of repeating the success of 2015 in Port Moresby.
Representatives of the national sports federations gathered in Port Moresby with the Papua New Guinea Olympic Committee in the first Games workshop to share their plans, progress and targets.
PNGOC president Sir John Dawanincura reminded the federations that the Samoa 2019 Pacific Games presented an opportunity for Team PNG to create history on foreign soil.
He said it was Prime Minister Peter O’Neill, who had presented the team with this challenge at the end of the 2015 Pacific Games.
Vice-Minister for Sports Wesley Raminai in his keynote speech encouraged the federations to work together to achieve their goals and not focus on their individual agendas.
“As custodians of your respective sports I encourage you to run your sport following the principles of good governance and putting athletes first,” Raminai said.
“There should be no place for factional disputes and politics in sports. These will only negatively impact the progress of your sport.
“Sports unites PNG like no other influence. We saw that during the 2015 Pacific Games and I want to see that again in 2019.”
The Samoa 2019 Pacific Games will be held from July 8 to 20, less than a year and half away, and PNGOC secretary-general, Auvita Rapilla stressed that it was important to prepare well in advance if PNG was going to make an impact in Samoa.
“We all know that preparing for top-level events should be done years in advance. In a sense we are already behind our toughest competitors,” Rapilla said.
“The host nation, Samoa, our traditional rivals, Fiji and of course the French powerhouses of Tahiti and New Caledonia, are all preparing to wrestle away the title of Pacific’s best that we claimed in 2015.”