PNG official forecasts big

success for the Guam Games

Prom a Port Moresby correspondent

Widely - experienced Papua New Guinea sports official, Jack Pini, predicts that the South Pacific Games in Guam in August will be a great success, with contestants experiencing “the true spirit of the Games”.

He made this prediction in May after returning to Port Moresby from Guam where he checked out Guam’s arrangements for the Games on be half of the Papua New Guinea Amateur Sports Association. Mr Pini is secretary of the association and general manager of PNG’s 290-man Games team. It’s the largest team yet to be sent out by PNG.

The PNG and Solomon Islands teams will fly direct to Guam in two

Air Micronesia Boeing 727 s whose

charter was finalised by Mr Pini in Guam.

Mr Pini has given to PNG sporting bodies full details of the various venues for sports at the Games.

He says the main stadium and the athletics venue will not be up to the same standard as in the Tahiti and Port Moresby Games; but venues for basketball, golf, lawn tennis, judo, softball, volley ball, table tennis, yachting, weight-lifting and boxing were “certainly better” than at Tahiti and Port Moresby. The venues for soccer, swimming and athletics would be of a lower standard.

He said Guam was unable to put in a touch plate for electronic timing in the swimming pool and thus six timekeepers would be required for each lane. Swimming would be held in the mornings.

Athletics would take place in the afternoon at the J. F. Kennedy Field, using a track of crushed coral base, with a sand-clay mix for the top course. There was no covering on the stands. There would be no stadium for the opening ceremony; a baseball park would be used which was small and only a small section of it was covered.

But team accommodation was ex client—much higher than at Tahiti or Port Moresby. Accommodation md venues were fairly widely scattered, but 200 school buses would oe made available for transport, as Jiere was no public transport in 3uam.

Mr Pini said he was impressed by he amount of organisation done in 3uam over a short period. The early roubles had been overcome, and juam had achieved in three months

what it normally would have been expected to achieve over three years.

There was a great spirit of en thusiasm among all officials and sup porters of the organising committee and there was no doubt in his mind that Guam would “magnificently” meet that part of the South Pacific Games Charter which said that the first objective was to bring people together so that they could create bonds of friendship and understand ing, and secondly to engage in amateur sport.

Mr Pini said contestants could expect very hot weather during the day with cool nights, with “every chance” of typhoons. Cost of living in Guam was very high, including taxi charges, but there was a great deal of entertainment. Colour tele vision would be provided in the Games villages. Guam itself had a bowling alley, four picture theatres, plenty of nightclubs and good beaches.

Talking of dress, Mr Pini noted that “strangely enough” shorts were not used to any great degree in Guam. The women wore slacks and casual dresses, the men long trousers and casual shirts.

Chief of mission for the PNG team, Mr Sam Piniau, said in Port Moresby that PNG’s strength at the Games would be in athletics (par ticularly marathon and long-distance), boxing and soccer.

He said the PNG public had given the team great financial support fol lowing a very sound fund-raising campaign. The public had subscribed $120,000, the government $45,000.

The PNG team will be wearing a new “independence” uniform of green and white Afro-shirt, green lap lap (or skirt) and sandals.

Countries taking part in the Games, which will be from August 1 to 10, are American and Western Samoa, the Solomons, New Hebrides, Cook Islands, French Polynesia, Fiji, Tonga, Nauru, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Wallis and Futuna, and the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. The Trust Terri tory is sending a big team of 129 men and 29 women.

The total number of athletes taking part will be 1,048, plus 114 officials.

Some teams will be bringing large numbers of supporters with them— French Polynesia will probably bring about 120 and New Caledonia 160.