Sport: Athletes overcome obstacles at Pacific Games

Transcript

Papua New Guinea leads the medals table with the Pacific Games in Port Moresby nearing the halfway stage.

But for a number of teams and competitors just making it to the start-line is a victory in itself.

Vinnie Wylie reports from Port Moresby.

Micronesia was the talk of world football this week, conceding an astonishing 114 goals in three matches.

Their final match against Vanuatu ended 46-0 - smashing the Pacific Games record set two days earlier against Fiji.

Head coach Stan Foster says it was their first time competing at the Games and for a lot of his players their first time on an eleven-a-side pitch.

STAN FOSTER: "It's just so hard at this early stage - this is kindergarten for us. We have to learn and to know that we we go back we have to train harder and learn more skills. Most of these have never been out of their villages let alone onto another island. I took them to Guam the other day [and it was] the first time they've been on an elevator or an escalator. It's been a huge step-up for these guys and they've just been overawed really. They need these sort of tournaments to become competitive in future".

Another newcomer is the Nauru sevens team, who made the country's international rugby debut this week.

President of the Nauru Rugby Union, Kieren Keke, says the sport's been growing steadily over the past few years but there were still obstacles in putting the team together.

KIEREN KEKE: "Nauru's brought eight sports so a number of the athletes that could have potentially played rugby have chosen other sports. Preparing a team for the first time, without having that experience in the past, has got a lot of challenges and certainly financially trying to bring together resources needed but still we've got a great team, very enthusiastic [with] a lot of natural talent. We just don't have the experience and we're here to start building that experience".

Tokelau's only competitor at the Pacific Games is squash player Sam Iasona - who picked up a racket for the first time a little over a year ago.

The 33 year old, who works as a line mechanic in New Zealand, says his attendance in Papua New Guinea was never originally part of the plan.

SAM IASONA: "What started as something that wasn't too serious as I just started playing squash two years ago and then one of the cousins suggested I should play squash in the Pacific Games. No one else has ever represented Tokelau in squash before. Cousin Steve sent them an email and asking if it was ok and all the elders had a meeting and I got accepted".

Vanuatu's Mary Ramel had her training disrupted by the effects of Cyclone Pam.

She narrowly missed out on gold in the women's Para table tennis singles final.

But her coach, Anolyn Lulu, says she has loads of potential.

ANOLYN LULU: "After Cyclone Pam, which damaged our training venue, they just started training just one month before we got here so the match was very tough for her. I believe in Mary - she can do better than that - just the crowd and all this it is an inexperience for her [because] she's never participated in any table tennis event before. The surrounding, the environment itself also contributed to her defeat. Despite that, she played well and she will go back home and continue to train and play in upcoming events". 

Team Tuvalu is just happy to be in PNG after their voyage from Funafuti to Suva was delayed three times because of strong winds, forcing their charter flight in Fiji to be postponed, and their opening matches in touch rugby and table tennis put on hold.

The team only arrived in Port Moresby on Saturday, just one hour before the start of the opening ceremony.

Meanwhile Kiribati and Nauru have entered teams in basketball at the Pacific Games for the first time in more than 20 years, after the sport's governing body expanded Oceania's qualifying pathway for the 2019 World Cup.