New Guineas Women Could

Shine At Noumea Games

From a Port Moresby Correspondent The outstanding development in New Guinea sport since the First South Pacific Games in Suva in 1963 has been the terrific interest in athletics by territory girls. Only two women athletes took part at Suva, and these were selected from no more than a dozen who took an interest at that time.

IN the Gazelle Peninsula alone there are now 300 registered women athletes and the standard of competition is high.

The success of Fiji’s women athletes in Suva fired the imagination of New Guinea girls, and there has also been, since Suva, great en couragement for athletics in the schools here.

New Guinea will send a young athletics team—of both men and women—to the Second Games in Noumea opening on December 8.

The final team will be selected after the territory’s athletics championships to be held in Rabaul on October 22 and 23.

New Guinea has been concentrat ing on preparing a young team following the lead of French Poly nesia, which took youngsters to Suva to gain experience for the 1966 Games.

There will be an athletics team of 40 representing P-NG in Noumea, comprising 24 men and 16 women.

They will be the main body of a contingent of 140 competitors and 27 officials almost double New Guinea’s 1963 team of 80 competitors and nine officials.

The Team

Other contestants are expected to be; Association football, 16; basket ball, 9 men, 9 women; boxing, 6; Union football, 19; swimming, 5 men, 5 women; lawn tennis, 4 men, 4 women; table tennis, 4 men, 4 women; women’s netball, 9; weight lifting, 6.

Mr. Kevin Atkinson, secretary of the territory branch of the South Pacific Games Council, speaking in Port Moresby in September stressed that nobody would be included in the team who was not up to standard, so that the final figure could vary.

The team, under manager Reg Johnstone, will fly direct to Noumea from Port Moresby by chartered

Electra aircraft in three flights, on December 4,5, and 6 returning on December 19, 20, and 21.

The New Guinea team members will be wearing grey trousers or (Over)

skirts and white shirts, but no blazers.

Blazers were worn at Suva and were found to be unnecessary.

The shirts will carry the New Guinea Bird-of-Paradise insignia, on bottle-green and gold pockets.

The territory is planning to raise $42,000 to send the team to Noumea, of which $5,000 had been raised by early September. The Administration is making a grant of $12,000.

Papua-New Guinea was second, after Fiji, in the points table at Suva, with nine gold medals, 12 silver and 11 bronze. At Suva French Polynesia and New Caledonia generally excelled in all ball games, the Polynesian terri tories made the best showing in the boxing ring, and Fiji and New Guinea were the main contestants on the athletics field.

Athletics

New Guinea athletics official Mr.

Don Barrett (who managed New Guinea's athletes at the Suva Games) said here in September that athletes’ times recorded at Rabaul recently (it is the only centre to have a recog nised measured ground) have been surprisingly good.

He said New Guinea’s athletes were working up gradually and were not, naturally, right at their top at this stage. More work would be done on this after the territory champion ships in Rabaul in October.

“Despite these times, there’s noth ing to say that other territory athletes could not do better. We

won’t know until the championships,” said Mr. Barrett.

A panel on the previous page gives an indication of how Papua-New Guinea’s athletes are shaping. The figures are up to early September.

Swimming

New Guinea’s swimming team will be chosen in Port Moresby in late October.

Swimming officials are aware that the French have since bettered every swimming time at the Suva Games except one, that by Tovi Jovel in the 110 yds butterfly event (1m 16.45).

Jovel, aged about 23, has recently changed his stroke to the dolphin kick, and it looks as if he will be taking part in the Noumea Games.

Another likelihood is Pia Mae, who has considerably improved on the time (3m 455) that won her the bronze medal for 220 yd breastroke in Suva. But one of the best of the new swimmers is Pia’s sister Tiko, aged about 13, who has an excellent freestyle.

New Guinea selectors at the moment are combing schools in Aus tralia for territory children who have been putting up good times. They remember the lesson of Suva-born

Mr. Don Barrett.

The Lesson Of Carl Bay

Carl Bay, who came from school in New Zealand to take five gold swimming medals for Fiji (and who was the record gold medal winner at the Games).

Tennis

Reaction of those following New Guinea tennis is, “Thank Heaven I’m not a selector”. The New Guinea team is likely to be composed of Europeans only and will include Arthur Marks who never lost a set at Suva.

Team work will be the answer to those seeking medals at Noumea. It was a strong team combination which won the gold medal for Fiji at Suva, although some other territories, in cluding New Guinea, often played more brilliant tennis. This was especially true of the French. New Guinea selectors feel the territory have a good chance of again collect ing a medal at Noumea. At Suva the territory took the bronze.

Papua-New Guinea made its final selections for the tennis team after trials at Port Moresby on Sep tember 17-19. Soccer, basketball, netball, and table tennis selections were also to be made following trials in various areas the same weekend.

Final union football trials will be in October, as also will be the weightlifting. It is too early yet to know much about New Guinea’s chances in these sports and also box ing, although close followers are pleased with progress.

Basketball

The bulk of men’s basketball players will very likely come from Lae which won the territory championships this year. A certainty for the team is Henry Maher, of Madang, who is one of the territory’s outstanding players.

The Port Moresby women won the territory’s women’s basketball championships and it seems certain that most of the women’s team will come from there. Most of them will be New Guineans, and officials say the women players have an excellent chance of obtaining at least a bronze medal.

Territory women at this stage will be playing five-a-side basketball (net ball) for the first time at Noumea, but territory enthusiasm is keen, with a big roll-up at practices.

Selection of the team will be difficult because of the high general standard.