Doubts over whether to host the annual inter-tertiary Games for local students studying at tertiary institutes in and out of the country have now been cleared and the Games are all set to kick off mid-next week.
This was made possible by the financial support rendered by the Member of Parliament for West Honiara, Honourable Namson Tran yesterday.
Honourable Tran out from his personal fund assisted the organizing committee with a total of SBD$49, 140.
The committee responsible for organizing the Games revealed that they have had a pretty tough time organizing the event since they have no support from the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Now that they have received the assistance, they will move on to organizing the event and get everything sorted out before the Games kick off next week.
The assistance will go towards prizes, logistics, hiring of playing ground and other
Speaking on behalf of Honourable Tran, West Honiara CDO, Brian Taupiri said Honourable Tran is very happy to render support towards students events and to such course which will help bring togetherness and promote healthy leaving amongst the country’s young leaders.
“Honourable Tran whole heartedly and kindly gave this assistance following the committee’s request.
“He sees it as an important event that will have a positive impact on the lives of our future leaders.
“He also passed on his wishes to all the students and their families a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year,” he said.
The organizing committee lead by Anthony Maelasi thanked Honourable Tran for the support saying it has made everything easier and most importantly possible to go ahead with this annual event.
He extend the acknowledgement by Whitlam Saeni, the USP’s USP’s Students Association’s President to Honourable Tran.
The Games will take place at the KG VI sports field on Wednesday next week.
Meanwhile preparation is well underway. The inter-tertiary game is an annual event organized by students studying at different institutions and universities in the region including Australia and New Zealand.
Each year different university or institution take turn to host the event and this year, USP Laucala campus is hosting the event.
“We are so privileged to host this year’s event despite the challenges we’ve encountered in securing funding for the event,” Anthony Maelasi, President of the SI Students Association at USP Laucala campus said.
He thanked Hon. Tran for his timely assistance and for seeing the importance of the involvement of young tertiary students in sports and civic activities during the break.
The inter-tertiary games will begin with a thanksgiving service at the Wesley United Church on Sunday 7th December at 2:00 pm in the afternoon. As part of the program, all institutions are expected to put on an item or song during the service.
On Monday 8th December all students will be involved in a clean-up Honiara campaign. For this year’s clean-up campaign, all students are expected to be at the front of USP Center near the multi-purpose hall at 7:00 am on Monday 8th and will be allocated zones to work in.
Mr. Maelasi said, the committee has decided to have students from different institutions to work together in groups as part of interaction and meeting the games’ objectives.
The sports proper will take place from Wednesday 10th to Friday 12th at KGVI School. The sports to be played are soccer, netball, volleyball and basketball. All teams are urged to prepare well for the tournament.
In the mean time, an important meeting for all presidents and student leaders of all institutions is being scheduled for Friday 5th at USP Center at 10:00 am. The committee urges all concerned to attend this very important meeting.
“This meeting is to finalize team’s participation and to discuss important ground rules to ensure smooth administration and running of the games” USP Laucala campus Sports Chairperson, Mr. Primo Tahikao said.
USP Laucala campus as hosts will strive to make this year’s activities to be enjoyable and beneficial to both students and members of the community.
By CARLOS ARUAFU
