Yanga first to have sports body: Official

Sports

LAE’S Yanga village is the first in the district to set up a recognised community sports association, according to an official.
Papua New Guinea Sports Foundation (PNGSF) development officer A’aron Mugaliong launched the Yanga Village Community Sports Association over the weekend.
The association is made up of teams from communities in the Aihi local-level government area, Lae and Nawaeb. Mugaliong said he was aware of various sporting activities in Lae, but this was the first to have followed the policy set by PNGSF to register under the Investment Promotion Authority (IPA). He commended the initiative of promoting sports in the community. Association deputy president Joel Winis said forming the initiative was aimed at keeping youth occupied over the weekends and on public holidays.
“We see a decrease in social issues when youth are busy,” he said.
“We hope to use sports as an extra-curricular activity for our youths.”
Winis said the community ended their pre-season last week. The association kicked off their season with a total of 40 teams comprising men, Under-13s, U16, senior men and senior women in soccer and volleyball.
Community representative Ericka Boase thanked Bowali Primary School for offering it grounds for the community to use for sports.
Businessman and association patron Matthew Minape committed K10,000 to the association.