Five male athletes and one female travelled to North Queensland in late June 2019 to take part in the latest Oceania Area Championships. The comprehensive programme for this meeting seems to cover every age-group, every event, every level of disability and it is all live streamed on TV, UTube, etc. In the majority of the standard track and field events, Australia, New Zealand and "Regional Australia" dominate the opposition, but a number of the smaller island countries work hard and produce good individuals. If you access the Oceania AA web-site they have an archive of their competition results.
Kiribati, although situated as in the centre of a Venn diagram and on the edges of the three Pacific regions (Micronesia, Melanesia and Polynesia), is included by OAA as part of Micronesia - "the tiny islands" ! As such, they can be very successfull in track and field provided they prepare their athletes for events in which they can excel and which other Micronesians prepare less well. This is evidenced by their record of international medal-winners, most of which have been in technical events (jumps, throws and hurdles), endurance races and sprint relays. (Attached)
So to take four sprinters and covering just three technical events was doomed not to produce the most successful results. As the attached report suggests, it is to be hoped that, given a new stadium all-weather track and challenging training, the standard of sprinting and other running may improve, but it will take a number of years. With the demolition of the main stadium on capital island Bairiki and the building of a larger stand and superior surface, they will have the better running facility. But what about fans and equipment for High Jump; will there be new runways and landing pits for horizontal jumps; will the track be marked for age-group hurdles; will there be new, carefully-sited circles and equipment for heavy throws - and maybe even a safety cage; will there be a runway for Javelin ? Unless there is provision for all these techniques to be practiced with systematic coaching, development of Athletics in Kiribati will be as slow as it has been in the last eight years. Check the attached tables to see when the more recent medals have been gained !
Two lights on the horizon - apart from the re-furbished stadium - are the increased opportunities offered to Primary Schools and to Women. The funding for the Sports Development Officers needs to be regular and continuous in schools and the wider communities, with intra-island competitions. The Disabled athletes have begun to get a voice. If little or nothing is done, it is easy for standards to stagnate and interest to die. So it is vital to use the experience and knowledge of the many international athletes now living on the Kiribati islands, albeit the majority now working and supporting families. Maybe they just need the invitation !
There is an attached report on the Townsville team. Please read it and see the images.
Last Modified on 01/07/2019 09:51