NEWSROOM: 17 February - 23 February 2008

Pacific History made in Wanganui, New Zealand
23 February 2008 - Source: Samoa Observer

What do the dates 6th May 1954 and 16 February 2008 have in common? The 1954 date was the day (now Sir) Roger Bannister became the first person to run under four minutes for the 1 Mile.

On Saturday 16 February, Aunese Curreen of Samoa became the first Pacific Island athlete to ever run under 4 minutes for the 1 Mile. History was made on both these days.

Competing in the Mayoral Mile in the New Zealand city of Wanganui that night, Aunese ran a time of 3:59.91 seconds to finish third. His time carves a huge 8 seconds from his previous best time for the distance, which is also a Samoa National Record and a Pacific Islands Record.

In a very international field of 16 men, the winner of the race was Adrian Blincoe of New Zealand who ran 3:57.65, followed by David Campbell of Ireland in 3:58.19 and then Aunese. Blincoe finished 4th in the 1500m event at the 2006 Commonwealth Games.

It was appropriate that Aunese achieved this historic feat in Wanganui, as it is regarded as the “home” of sub four minute miles. Back in January 1962, the great Peter Snell of New Zealand set a World Record at the Cooks Gardens track when he ran 3:54.4 seconds for the 1 Mile. This was the first ever sub four minute mile at Wanganui. So now Aunese can write his name alongside some of the greatest athletes.

Steve Hollings, Aunese’s personal coach was ecstatic with his athlete’s performance. “This is another historic day for Aunese, for the Pacific Islands and for the HPTC – Oceania. I knew he was capable of a time like this – he just needed to get in the right race for him to achieve it.”.

Fulfilling RAMSI experience for female Samoan personnel
22 February 2008 - Source: National Express

Serving with the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands has been a fulfilling experience for an outgoing Samoan female officer.

Speaking with the National Express newspaper, a female officer from Samoa said that serving the country and the people serving under RAMSI not only helped her have a lot of confidence in herself "but i find it fulfilling".

Margrete Donna Roache-Palepoi was selected from the many talented officers in the Samoan Police Force a year ago to represent her Polynesian Island State in serving the mission in Solomon Islands.

Mrs. Roache-Palepoi said that she had come to the Solomon Islands in February 15th last year to work particularly in Community Policing serving under the RAMSI.

She told National Express that as part of her job, she worked with different communities, schools and provinces around the country.

She also set out awareness talks based on the side effect of people drinking kwaso and young people in the country occupied with drugs such as smoking marijuana, which is common in the Solomon Islands.

Mrs. Roache-Palepoi said that talks were conducted to help reduce the risk of young people's life involved in taking drugs.

"The problems I've seen here are basically similar to what I've seen back home except its heavier here," she said.

Being in the mission has not been a smooth task for the Samoan who, in her term, came across some challenges, especially when working with other country colleagues but she really had to understand them.

Mrs. Roache-Palepoi said that working under RAMSI with other Pacific Islanders to get positive outcome to the people of Solomon Islands is a major victory.

"I've gained a lot of experiences from working with the Solomon Islands Police Force and PPF," she said. "They have different ways of dealing with issues and I've learnt alot from working with them."

Mrs. Roache-Palepoi said that if she is given another chance to work in the Solomon Islands, she will definitely come back and work with the Community Public Relations.

Geographic Information System unit mapping Samoa
21 February 2008 - Source: Electric Power Corporation Press Release

The Electric Power Corporation Geographic Information System (GIS) unit is making progress on its asset management project but needs assistance from the public to make it successful.

GIS is a system for capturing, storing, analysing and administering spatially referenced data for use in managing assets. The GIS Unit is currently mapping and photographing consumer meters in villages supplied by the West Coast Feeder from Satapuala to Falevai.

Once consumer meter data is collated, it will be linked with the consumer number on the EPC customer database. This will ensure that moving forward; service and maintenance requests from customers can be more readily met.

The program requires GIS staff to locate the meter, log its geographic data using modern GPS (Global Positioning System) equipment and digitally photograph it. To carry out these functions EPC GIS Staff require the same access to the meters as would traditional EPC meter readers.

According to EPC’s MIS/GIS Officer, “to ensure that this project can be carried out efficiently and to full effect, we require the assistance of the public. GIS staff need access to the consumer’s power meter to record data. This is a quick and unobtrusive process that will result in sustainable benefits for the customer. GIS staff will be happy to present any customer with a letter explaining their work should they require it. To assist the unit in carrying out their work, please ensure your dogs are restrained during the time that staff are on your property.”

Moving forward, the GIS unit will help to minimise power outages due to more accurately identifying maintenance needs and helping to correctly identify customer requirements and as such meet them.

More information about the GIS Unit can be found at www.epc.ws

Drifters withdrawal decision angers officials
20 February 2008 - Source: Fiji Times

Waisale Serevi's decision to withdraw his Drifters side from the Marist Samoa Sevens in Apia hasn't gone down well with the organisers.

Tournament director Vincent Fepuleai launched a scathing attack on the world sevens icon while speaking to the Samoaalive website.

He claimed the maestro and former national coach lacked "credibility".

The two-day tournament starts this Friday and Fepuleai lamented Serevi's decision to pull out the Drifters, including the likes of former national rep Lepani Nabuliwaqa, at the eleventh hour.

"I'm utterly disappointed at Serevi for misleading us all along for the last several weeks after repeated conversations with him and gave us his personal assurance that he has a team all prepared and ready to come to Samoa," Fepuleai said.

"It was only as late as (last Thursday) that I confronted him for a confirmation in writing by 4pm or the deal was off that he told me that he was leaving for Taiwan the next day."

Fepuleai said they had agreed to cover all airfares and accommodation for the Drifters.

The official claimed Serevi did the same last year and opted out but they had excused him considering "he was under contract to FRU who held him back for a Fiji sevens camp".

"But, I'm afraid that Serevi lacks credibility in my view and I can now see why he is having problems with the FRU," Fepuleai claimed.

"All we needed was for him to be upfront if he had already committed elsewhere which had more financial benefit and rightly so."

Fepuleai further added that 2002 winners of the cup, Global Barbarians had taken up the challenge to attend the tournament.

"Their manager Rajesh Singh (former sports minister) has included some household sevens Fijian players such as Emosi Vucago, Etonia Naba, Mesake Davu and former Fiji captain Mosese Volavola."

Serevi is still in Taiwan and could not be reached for comment. A close family member, who did not wish to be named, last night sympathised with Marist Samoa officials adding that Serevi had no other option.

"The trip to Taiwan wasn't planned. It just popped up all of a sudden and Wai (Serevi) had to make up his mind. Unfortunately, he couldn't take both trips at one time.

"He tried his best to squeeze in the Samoa trip as well but his commitment in Taiwan gave him no time. We sympathise with the Samoan officials. However, they have to understand that Wai had to go for contract talks which involve both his and his family's future."

Deputy Prime Minister launches Savai’i branch of SPDB
19 February 2008 - Source: South Pacific Business Development Press Release

The Deputy Prime Minister Misa Telefoni officially launched the Savai’i branch of the South Pacific Business Development Foundation (SPBD) at a grand opening ceremony in Salelologa.

Misa has consistently supported the efforts of SPBD and has long advocated for its expansion to Savai’i. At the ceremony, Misa gave the keynote speech and conducted the ceremonial loan disbursement for SPBD’s first five women members on Savai’i.

SPBD began rolling out its savings and loans program in Savai’i two months ago. Since then, over 400 women have formed themselves into village-based groups to join the program. Many of these women have now been trained and following the ceremony today 74 members received their first disbursement.

Elrico Munoz, SPBD’s General Manager, believes that the possibilities for reaching out to more women in the rural areas are much greater in Savai’i.

“Every day, women are coming into our office and approaching us in the market at Salelologa to find out how they can join SPBD. They tell the other women in their villages and organize meetings so we can explain how microfinancing works. They are excited about the opportunities SPBD can offer them.”

SPBD has operated for eight years on Upolu where it has provided unsecured credit, training and ongoing guidance to more than 8,000 disadvantaged women, enabling them to start and grow their own microbusinesses, improve their houses and send their children to school.

SPBD follows the principles of the Nobel Peace Prize-Winning Grameen Bank which is founded on village-based support groups and a high degree of credit discipline. Members form themselves into self-chosen groups of five which act as loan guarantee groups. If one member defaults on a repayment, the rest of the group is required to make the payment in their place.

Using this methodology, SPBD maintains a repayment rate of 98 per cent, which is higher than most commercial banks.

SPBD loans are used to start and develop a wide variety of microbusinesses including vegetable plantations, sewing, elei printing, weaving of hats and bags and beach fale operation.

Greg Casagrande, who founded SPBD in 2000, welcomed the guests on behalf of the board and thanked Digicel and Westpac for their support of SPBD’s operations in Savai’i.

During the ceremony, Toalepai Waikato Fatu, the Special Project Manager at Digicel, presented village phones to the first eight SPBD centres on Savai’i as part of a recently launched partnership program between SPBD and Digi-Care, a Digicel community development initiative.

Opportunity for two young Samoans to go to Beijing
18 February 2008 - Source: SASNOC Press Release

SASNOC is searching for one boy and one girl between the ages of 16 and 18 years, to participate in the 2008 Olympic Youth Camp, and two applicants will be given this once in a lifetime opportunity, to represent Samoa in Beijing later this year.

There will be 600 participants from around the globe invited to Beijing to celebrate the XXIX Olympiad together. During the two week period (5-18 August, 2008), participants will be exposed to a variety of activities including the Opening Ceremony, Torch Relay, Olympic Events, City Sightseeing, Sports and Arts exchanges with campers and much more. Beijing 101 Middle School has been selected as the site for the 2008 Olympic Youth Camp. It is one of the best high schools in Beijing and also well-known in China. It is 10 kilometres from Olympic Green and 35 kilometres from the Beijing Capital International Airport.

The participants will be accommodated in the school dormitory, which provides 240 four-person rooms for 960 participants and working staff. The dining hall has a capacity of 1,000 people. Beverages, snacks and daily commodities are available at the school store near the dormitory and dining hall.

A number of rooms including an auditorium with 850 seats, a lecture hall with 300 seats, two amphitheatres with 200 seats and 110 seats respectively are also available for the Camp activities. Over 50 classrooms in the main building and 7 computer labs (350 computers with Internet access) in the school Information Centre will be offered. Sports facilities include a four-court tennis centre, an outdoor eight-court basketball ground, an indoor and an outdoor volleyball ground (6 courts in total), a standard 400-meter track and field lawn ground and one playground with artificial lawn for football matches.

All costs for this once in a lifetime experience are covered by the Beijing Olympic Committee and IOC Olympic Solidarity including airfares, local transportation, accommodation and meals during the 2008 Olympic Youth Camp.

All candidates must be 16 – 18 years of age by Aug 8th, 2008, be Samoan citizens, possess excellent conversational ability in English, excel in a local Olympic sport or sport(s) and have contributed to Samoa i.e. through volunteer or environmental protection activities.

Applications must include a 1 page essay between 350—400 words on “My Olympic Hero” and the one page application form which you can download from our website: www.oceaniasport.com click on “Samoa” or pick up from the SASNOC Olympic Fale in Faleata, just behind the Aquatic Centre.

For further information please contact Janita #25033 or Tagifano #25033, send us an email janita@sasnoc.ws  tagifano@sasnoc.ws or just come down and visit us in Faleata.

Applications close on Friday 29th February 2008.

Another plea for a Pacific Island team in Super 14
17 February 2008 - Source: Pacific Magazine

It is May 1992, in Mua, Tonga. An impromptu game of rugby is organized at a family umu. One of my teammates in the game is Jonathon Tu’ipulotu, who at eleven years of age has a great array of skills, can run like the wind, and kick goals barefoot from prodigious distances.

It is September 2001. A 20-year-old is making his debut for the Auckland rugby team, playing in the midfield. It is an NPC match against Waikato. The debutant is Jonathon Tu’ipulotu, now known as Tane Tu’ipulotu, who subsequently played / plays for the Hurricanes, Wellington, Manawatu, the Pacific Islanders, the Junior All-Blacks and two All-Black trial teams. In Setember 2001, Tane is (according to his Auckland Rugby Union player profile) 1.88 metres tall, and weighs 99 kilograms. He is described as “a talented second-five, who can also slot in at centre.” His profile also mentions that his brother Salesi has played rugby for New Zealand universities, and that Tane was also the New Zealand secondary schools pole vaulting champion (where, as a Saint Kentigern College student) he played for an excellent rugby first XV, which included future All Blacks Jerome Kaino and Joe Rocococko.

Tane left Tonga when he won a scholarship to Saint Kentigern College, Auckland, in 1999. Within three years he was playing rugby for Auckland. Had he not won that scholarship, this would arguably not be the case. This raises the question: how many potential Tane Tu’ipulotu’s are there in the Pacific, whose undoubted rugby talents haven’t been discovered, due to lack of recognition, opportunity and exposure?

The Pacific Rugby Nations clearly get more rugby exposure than they did previously. The Pacific Rugby Cup was introduced in 2006, a competition involving club teams from the Pacific.

Moreover, the Pacific Nations Cup was introduced in 2006, a round-robin tournament comprising the Junior All-Blacks, Tonga, Samoa, Fiji and Japan. Australia A was added in 2007. This year the New Zealand Maori team will replace the Junior All-Blacks. Prior to this, Tonga, Fiji and Samoa played each other annually in a competition.

These matches were always vociferously supported by the locals but international interest in them was negligible. Now all matches are shown on Sky Television in New Zealand. Another initiative – for which the International Rugby Board is to be commended – is allowing Pacific Island rugby players to play for European clubs, without being recognized as official overseas players. This increases their attractiveness to clubs, as they do not use up import “quota” spots. Many Pacific Island Rugby players are rightly capitalising on this policy. Their rugby abilities increase as they play tough rugby week-in week-out, which strengthens their respective rugby nations when they play for them.

Pacific Players also benefit by playing in domestic competitions in New Zealand and Australia, and the Rebel Sport Super 14. The Australian Rugby Union has been criticized, however, for its policy of only allowing Australian-eligible players to play for the Waratahs, Reds, Brumbies and Western Force.

The massive improvements in Pacific Island Rugby were evident in the 2007 Rugby World Cup. Fiji joined Samoa as a Pacific Team to qualify for the World Cup quarterfinals. Although Samoa disappointed at this year’s tournament, it must be remembered that the cup finalists, South Africa and England, were in their pool, not to mention a rejuvenated Tonga and a tenacious USA. Many thought the Fiji-Wales game (which Fiji won) was the match of the tournament. Tonga’s improvement at the World Cup was massive, they beat Samoa (having lost by 50 points to them in the Pacific Nations Cup , and not having beaten them in seven years); the USA were competitive against England and were within a bounce of the ball of beating the eventual champions, South Africa. Tonga were arguably the success story of the tournament, a rags to riches story (almost literally – they could barely afford their playing strip!), with their enthusiasm and passion and hitherto largely unrecognized abilities.

Given the performances of Tonga and Fiji at the World Cup – and Samoa did not disgrace itself – it could be argued that the Rebel Sport Super XV should be expanded to include the Pacific Islanders team. The Pacific Islanders pushed the Wallabies, All-Blacks and Springboks close in successive weeks – a punishing schedule – in 2004. While the results were less encouraging in its end-of-year 2006 European tour, it must be remembered that the eligibility rules had changed. Sitiveni Sivivatu – with his brilliance -- and Sione Lauaki – with his destructiveness –largely played their way into the All-Blacks with their form for the Pacific Islanders in 2004. But by 2006, anyone playing for the Pacific Islanders disqualified themselves from future All-Black or Wallabies representation. Hence, players like Tane Tu’ipulotu played for the Pacific Islanders in 2004 because he remained eligible for the All-Blacks. But in 2006 he didn’t play for the Pacific Islanders because to do so meant while he could later play for Tonga, his All-Black ambitions would be sacrificed.

This policy is detrimental to Pacific Island rugby. The Super 14 is crying out for a breath of fresh air. With television viewers down last year –largely due to All-Black “reconditioning”—the tournament is in need of rejuvenation, in the face of other sports competitions such as the National Rugby League. In fact it could be argued that rugby is now not just competing with other sports, but with the entertainment market as a whole. Consumers, in spending their disposable incomes, can choose between not just whether to subscribe to Sky Television, but whether to travel, or get a DVD Unlimited Subscription, or upgrade their car, and so on.
And the inclusion of the Pacific Islanders could be the breath of fresh air the competition needs. Rugby is in the process of changing –some would say demystifying—its laws to make the game more entertaining. Including the Pacific Islanders in the Super 14 (logistical difficulties aside) would improve the competition, which should increase viewership, and hence television revenues.

While rugby is a professional game now, it can not be viewed solely in a business context. The fact is that rugby ultimately remains a sport, and the markets for sports are inherently dynamic. The game moves on rapidly. England was never going to defend its world rugby crown in 2007, playing it’s (albeit successful at the time) 2003 style. As was evident in the 2007 World Cup, the Pacific Island Nations play an entertaining, physical, flamboyant and unpredictable style. And perhaps including the Pacific Islanders in the Super 14 could provide the competition with the boost it desperately needs.

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