NOCSI boss happy

By Taromane Martin

Representatives from the National Federations who attended the two days workshop over the weekend.

PRESIDENT of the National Olympic Committee of Solomon Islands (NOCSI) Mr Martin Rara says they are ready to move forward.

He made the comments after attending the good governance and policy review workshop conducted by Pacific Games Council President Mr Vidayh Lakhan at the Town Ground Rugby Stadium over the weekend.

Mr Rara said the new policy framework will establish strict selection criteria for athletes and officials for Team Solomon in future regional competitions.

“This workshop where the President of the Pacific Games Council conducted covers the behaviour of governance within NOCSI,” he said.

“We looked at the constitution of NOCSI and established a team selection process for Team Solomon Islands. Those are the areas we covered during the two days’ workshop.

“This workshop is very, very important. It’s important because it helps us fully understand our roles and the constitution that is guiding us.

“We needed to go through the constitution because there are some parts of it National Federations don’t fully understand. We need to go through it to adjust it so it fits our situation here,” he said.

“Every year Solomon Islands send teams to compete overseas and a lot of times we see in the media complain about selections being bias and so on.

“So having this policy in place will act as a measuring stick for selectors to pick not only athletes but also officials for Team Solomon’s contingent based on the criteria’s in the policy.

“It’s an ongoing process and we are targeting 2023 as the deadline to finish these workshops as we get ready to host the games,” he adds.

Meanwhile the PGC President Lakhan said he was encouraged by the feedbacks he received from the participants during the workshops, saying he hopes NOCSI takes the policy on board to guide them in preparing athletes for regional games.

“From the interaction I had, it gave me the impression they understand what it was all about and they were curious to understand where they fit in and how things should be managed,” he said.

“For a lot of them it was an eye opener because they never knew how NOCSI was to be governed. And I’m told that they did not have such comprehension policy until now.

“In the policy there are strict rules you have to follow. If you don’t comply then you’re out.

“So that has been accepted and it will go back to NOCSI for approval before it can be adopted as a policy.

“Hopefully once that is accepted then it will guide NOCSI, National Federations in selecting athletes for multisport events.

“I’m confident and encouraged with the interest shown by the NFs and the NOCSI Executive board members in making effort to uplift the performance of the administration ability of NOCSI,” he said.

“I hope they adopt and it goes well. If that happens then it will really help NOCSI in avoiding all these controversies they have been having.”

Lahkan will continue with his assignment this week where he will hold a series of meetings with the Pacific Games 2023 taskforce and its stakeholders.

He is due back to Fiji on Friday.

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