September 19th 2008 SASNOC Headlines: Meet your Athletes for the CYG2008 Mose Faatamala, Samoa a Paralympian for Beijing 2008 Aunese ran the race of his life Rugby League Samoa prepare for the World Cup Samoa Champions at the 2008 Judo Nationals Commonwealth Youth Team Golf Tournament Samoa CYG Team Golf Tournament, Faleata 27 September South Pacific BodyBuilding Championships, Apia, SAMOA 2-5 October NEWSLETTER Meet your Athletes for the CYG 2008 SASNOC www.cygpune200.com The inaugural Commonwealth Youth Games was held in Edinburg, Scotland, in 2000. The second CYG was in Bendigo, Victoria, Australia, in 2004. The CYG is held every four years. The third games is scheduled to take place in Pune, India, a city in the state of Maharashtra, and the fourth is scheduled to take place in Douglas, Isle of Man, in 2011. The Commonwealth Youth Games is for young people aged between 16 and 18 years of age during the Games, and this will act as a test event for the Commonwealth Games which will be held in 2010 in Delhi, India. Nine sports are on offer this year; Athletics, Badminton, Boxing, Shooting, Swimming, Tennis, Table Tennis, Weightlifting and Wrestling. SASNOC has confirmed entries in four of the nine sports on offer with many young medalists entered from the 2007 South Pacific Games. The following athletes have been confirmed for the 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games to represent Samoa; Vanessa Lui (16 years) Weightlifting: Women s 63kg Mary Opeloge (16 years) Weightlifting: Women s 69kg Bob Pesalio (15 years) Weightlifting: Men s 56kg Five officials will also be accompanying the team to India, including Lupematasila Sam Te o, the team Chef de Mission. We wish our young athletes the very best in their preparations for Pune, and look forward to providing you with more information about this exciting opportunity for our young athletes. Opening Ceremony for the Commonwealth Youth Games 12 October Grand final Samoa Rugby League, Apia, SAMOA 18 October RLWC 08 begins Townsville, Australia 25 October The III Commonwealth Youth Games will be conducted from the 12th to 18th October 2008 in Pune, India. Over 1,300 athletes and 350 officials from 71 countries will participate in these Games. The III Commonwealth Youth Games is unique for its green theme, which permeates all aspects of the Games. A special drive is being conducted by the game organisers to create a "save the tigers" campaign to promote awareness of the critical state of the Indian tiger. : Margaret Satupai (16 years) Athletics: Shot Put, Discus, Hammer Throw Henry Satupai (18 years) Athletics: Shot Put, Discus, Hammer Throw Sinapapa Sanele (16 years) Boxing: 48kg Light Flyweight Faamanu Aukuso (17 years) Boxing: 69kg Welterweight Tennis: Men s Singles Prince Matautia (15 years) Steffi Carruthers (15 years) Tennis: Women s Singles & Doubles Kim Carruthers (17 years) Tennis: Women s Singles & Doubles We would also like to advise you of the major fundraising event for this team, the CYG Golf Tournament that will be held Saturday 27 th September 2008 7am-2pm at the Faleata Golf Course. Team registrations will be ST$300 which will include breakfast, lunch, green fees and the opportunity to win many prizes! Contact Shelley Burich to register your team NOW 774-7591 Mary Opeloge, triple gold medal winner at the SPG2007
Page 2 Mose Faatamala: Samoa s Paralympian for Beijing 08 MESC Name: Mose Faatamala Date of Birth: 20.8.1971 Event in Beijing: Long Jump (Athletics) Achievements: Representation at 3 Paralympic Games and other International events, including the Arafura Games. The Games emphasize, the participants' athletic achievements rather than their disability. The movement has grown dramatically since its first days. The number of athletes participating in Summer Paralympic Games has increased from 400 athletes from 23 countries in Rome in 1960 to 3806 activities for students with a disability, through the Fiafia Sport Program, which runs in over 56 government primary schools and special needs education settings throughout Samoa. Classification The Paralympic Games The 2008 Olympic Games may have been over for a few weeks now, but the venues were in full use as the 13 th Paralympic Games were underway, September 6 th - 17 th. athletes from 136 countries in Athens in 2004. Courtesy www.paralympic.org Samoa Represented While the interschool sports carnival for children with a disability was being held during the Teuila It may be confusing to see so many categories for events at the Paralympics, however this is due to the classification system. Classification provides a good structure for competition between athletes with disabilities. Whilst the classification of athletes can The event is the ultimate sporting competition for elite athletes with a disability and includes events for the classes of Amputee, Visually Impaired, Cerebral Palsy, Spinal Cord Injury and Les Autres athletes. Les Autres athletes are those with a physical disability that does not fall strictly under one of the other five categories, such as dwarfism, multiple sclerosis or congential deformities of the limbs. Festival, featuring the Paralympic sports of Boccia, Goalball and Sitting Volleyball, another Samoan athlete was preparing for his third Paralympic Games appearance. Mose Faatamala was Samoa s only athlete to qualify for the 2008 Games during the Arafura Games in Darwin, Australia in 2007. The father of 4 beautiful girls, who hails from Salailua, Savaii, is coached by appear complicated, basically athletes are classified to minimize the effect of disability on the outcome of the competition. This type of approach has traditionally been applied to sport in general, i.e. in boxing, weight categories minimize the affect that a person's body weight has on the outcome of competition. The Classification assessment is carried out by qualified Classifiers who have either a medical or Mose Faatamala competed at the 2008 Paralympics in Beijing earlier this month representing Samoa 20 sports were contested at the Beijing Paralympic Games including: Archery, Athletics, Boccia, Cycling, Equestrian, Football, Goalball, Judo, Powerlifting, Rowing, Sailing, Shooting, Swimming, Table Tennis, Sitting Volleyball, Wheelchair Basketball, Wheelchair Fencing, Wheelchair Rugby and Wheelchair Tennis. Harry Keil and is supported in his sporting pursuits by the Samoan Paralympic Association. In Beijing, Mose competed in the F46 Long Jump, jumping 5.28m to finish in 9 th place, Congratulations on your performance Mose! Working for the Ministry of Education, Sport and Culture s Sports Division, as the Disability Sport Officer, Mose works to support schools in running sports technical background, and experience with sport for people with a disability. The classification procedure may vary from one sport to another and athletes with disabilities are grouped in classes defined by the degree of function presented by the disability as observed during and outside of competition. The National Stadium for the 2008 Beijing Paralympics, known as the Bird s Nest inclusive sport and physical For more information on the Paralympics visit: www.paralympic.org or en.paralympic.beijing.2008.cn
Page 3 Aunese ran the race of his life www.hptcoceania.com Aunese Curreen, who competed in the 800m at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, came into the Games without a background of hard competitions in recent months. However he ran the race of his life to finish sixth in his heat, recording a time of 1:47.45 which is a personal best, a new Samoa National Record and a Pacific Island Record. His previous best was 1:47.72 that he set at the World Championships in Osaka last year. Aunese was not afraid to mix it with the others in his heat and ran in third place for most of the race. It was only in the last 120m that the others moved ahead. A relatively slow first lap of 53 seconds worked against Aunese running a faster time. Aunese s time beat some very accomplished 800m runners in other heats including Lachlan Renshaw of Australia who beat Aunese at the Australian National Championships in March. Renshaw ran 1:49 in Beijing. Aunese went into the race ranked 53rd of the 61 starters on a personal best time. The fact that he finished with the 29th fastest time of the 58 finishers highlights the magnitude of the run. To finish in the top half of the field at an Olympic Games is a marvellous achievement in itself. The top 24 went through to the semi-finals Aunese missing this by just five places. The four HPTC Oceania scholarship athletes who competed in the XXIX Olympic Games in Beijing, including Aunese have now completed their scholarships so we all look forward to seeing where Samoa's golden boy, Aunese Curreen will go from here. Aunese (far left) during his 800m heat in Beijing. Rugby League Samoa prepare for the 08 World Cup Event Polynesia With the 13th Rugby League World Cup starting in a matter of weeks, Rugby League Samoa has many important dates coming up to put into your calendar; Launch of Toa Samoa RLWC Gear Auckland, NZ: 26 September Toa Samoa RLWC Squad arrive in Samoa: 15 October RLWC Sendoff & Corporate Dinner Apia, Samoa: 17 October Grand Final Samoa Rugby League Apia Park, Samoa: 18 October 08 RLWC Begins: 25 October The actual World Cup will run from the 25th of October through to the 22nd of November. Samoa made their debut to the Rugby League World Cup in 1995. Matches will be played throughout Australia, with the Grand final being played at the Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane on the 22nd of November. This year will see 10 countries split into three pools; POOL 1: Australia, New Zealand, England, PNG POOL 2: France, Fiji, Scotland POOL 3: Tonga, Ireland, Samoa For the past five Rugby League World Cups, Australia has retained their winning streak. The last Rugby League World Cup was held in Great Britain & France in the 2000 with a record 16 teams entering. The 2000 RLWC was won by Australia in a 40-12 victory over New Zealand. Scheduled matches for Samoa for the 08 RLWC: Toa Samoa vs Tonga Penrith, Sydney: Friday 31 October Toa Samoa vs. Ireland Paramatta, Sydney: Wednesday 5 Nov Five local players are also still in the running to be selected for the Toa Samoa; Taualagi Lepupa (Marist Saints) Tupu Ulufae (Marist Saints) Junior Pouono (Vaimoso Giants) Ponifasio Vasa (Marist Saints) Timothy Stowers (Chanel Roosters) For more information visit the Official Rugby League World Cup website www.rlwc08.com Nigel Vagana captain of Toa Samoa RLWC 08 squad
Page 4 Samoa Champions at the 2008 Judo Nationals François Martel The competition was fierce last Saturday at the Faleata Multisport Gymnasium where the best judo athletes in Samoa battled for the titles. This competition brought together members of the Judo Association of Samoa (JAS) fighting for the titles of 2008 Samoa Champion in the Light-weight and Heavy-weight categories. The nationals were sponsored by the Australian Sports Outreach Program through the Australian High Commission in Apia, Polynesian Xplorer, Petroleum Product Supplies (PPS Samoa) and the support of the Oceania Judo Union, the Samoa Sports Facilities Authority and the Red Cross of Samoa. The nationals were run on a Round-robin competition format to allow as many fights as possible between competitors giving the athletes with most points the championship title. In the heavy weight category, Iuma Sua convincingly defeated his opponents with three ippons (full winning points) and providing some superb techniques both in throws and ground techniques. William Swerling also had good fights winning by ippon to both Jay Vaai and Edward Walter, only to to be beaten by Iuma Sua on the ground. But in the light weight division the title was harshly contested where Allen Smith, Hycinthe Waterhouse and Xavier Martel all put in excellent performances leaving the final winning score to that absolute last fight. The decisive moment of the tournament was the win of Xavier Martel over Hycinthe Waterhouse, who led the fight with an excellent throw in the first minute, until the last few seconds of the 5-minute fight, when in an attack of the last gasp, Xavier scored an important point (ippon) with a throwing technique that Hycinthe could not counter. All competitors displayed great sportsmanship. In the light-weight division, Brandon Sefo had to abandon after dislocating a shoulder in his fight against Xavier Martel, but according to Akapei Latu, the OJU representative monitoring the tournament, This was a well run tournament with excellent techniques displayed by the competitors, and I can say, Samoa had a good national championships Congratulations to Samoa s new champions and all the athletes who participated in this year s event. RESULTS: Heavy weight division (+81 kg) 2008 Champion and Gold medalist: Iuma Sua Silver medalist: William Swerling Bronze medalist: Jay Vaai Light weight division (-81 kg) 2008 Champion and Gold medalist: Xavier Martel Silver medalist: Allen Smith Bronze medalist: Hycinthe Waterhouse Officials for the Championships included Samoan black-belts, Frank Stowers and Sonny James Ah Kui in the corners, and Miss Saeko Matsuura, a JICA volunteer, the Oceania World Cup Champion in 2005 and 3 rd Dan Black-belt as the referee for the 20 fights of the championship. President François Martel, was the MC for the day, while Akapei Latu was in charge of the scoreboard, timing and score sheets. A kata demonstration was put together by Ms. Saeko Matsuura and Toshio Suzuki, to provide a high quality display of classic judo techniques and show that judo, an Olympic sport in its own right, is an ideal sport for all ages, males or females, and participants benefit from improved flexibility, coordination, balance and reflexes. This is the first competition since the 2007 SPG to be held in Samoa. For those interested in joining the Judo Association of Samoa (JAS) for fitness training, competition or just for fun, please contact Iuma Sua, JAS secretary at apiah_7@yahoo.co.nz. Fight No.20 between Allen Smith (red) throwing Xavier Martel (white). Photo by François Martel JAS 2008 Kata demonstration by Ms. Saeko Matsuura and Toshio Suzuki COMMONWEALTH YOUTH TEAM GOLF TOURNAMENT 3 players per team @ ST$300 FALEATA GOLF COURSE SATURDAY 27th SEPTEMBER, 2008 7.00AM 2.00PM Breakfast, lunch and green fees are inclusive of the quoted price per team Register now at the SASNOC Office, Faleata ph 25033 or email: lsburich@samoa.ws All Proceeds go towards Team Samoa for the 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games in India!
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