THE Honiara Football Association (HFA) will announce their development plans for this year’s HFA Soccer league.
Association President Mr Baddley Alaha confirmed they will make the announcements in a media press conference this afternoon at the Lawson Tama VIP Lounge.
“HFA invites all of you to come to our media conference at Lawson Tama VIP Lounge tomorrow at
12pm,” he said.
“The purpose of the conference is to announce our plans and the HFA League for 2018.
HFA is also expected to announce the dates for the presentation and awards for last year’s league winners and the new format for this year’s soccer leagues.
“The presentation and awards for the 2017 HFA League and the start of 2018 HFA League proper will soon be announced,” the President said.
“Please just be patient with us as we are trying to address issues one at a time. The HFA league will soon adopt a new structure.
“The new structure will see only two divisions being played out by participating clubs.
“I’m working with the Solomon Islands Football Federation (SIFF) Technical Director on how to administer the HFA new league structure.
“Under this new structure, we will have two divisions only. The Premier Division will have 18 teams and Division 1 also 18 teams.
“The detail of the new format will be announced soon,” Alaha said.
Europe-based Marcus Chan is one of the players drafted into the national
under-19 training squad.
BY ROMULUS HUTA
THE Solomon Islands Football Federation (SIFF) technical department has named a 44-man training squad for the national under-19.
The squad was released yesterday.
In the 44-man squad, most of players were selected from the Youth Solomon Cup tournament held in January with the exception of four players namely Marist defender John Aeta, Spain-based Marcus Chan, Simon Wolfgang (Western United) and Steward Saru of Waimapuru.
Aeta is the former national under-17 captain and also a current member of the national senior side.
Chan is currently a member of the CF Cracks Academy in Valencia, Spain.
The SIFF technical department said trials will begin on March 19, which is Monday next week at 9am.
“The SIFF Technical Director and the Technical Department would like to inform all Provincial Football Associations (PFA) presidents and coaches that we are calling on all selected players from each PFAs to attend the national under-19 trials,” a statement from SIFF said.
Players named in the training squad are expected arrive in Honiara by this Sunday.
SIFF is calling on PFAs to send their players based in the provinces to Honiara for the trials.
The statement said PFAs will be responsible for meeting the transport costs of players based in the provinces – to and from Honiara.
SIFF also calls on the training squad members to bring own training gears which include boots (2 pairs), running shoes, extra socks and shin pads.
“All players must be reminded that the trial period starts as soon as the training camp starts –
19th March 2018.
“Training and trials goes for only one week – 19th March 2018 to 25th March 2018.
“All players will be observed during the one week training/trial period.
“Players must be in their best behaviour and must perform throughout the training/trial period.
“Any player(s) who does not meet the requirements during the training and trial period will not be selected.
“Players please note that the coaches and technical team can kick players out on the spot or even 2-
3 days after the training and trial period has started.
“Players who chew beetle-nut or found smoking will be kicked out immediately,” the statement said.
The national under-19 team will participate in this year’s Oceania Under-19 world cup qualifiers.
The qualifiers will take place in Tahiti from August 5 to 18.
The top winners from the qualifiers will progress to the 2019 FIFA Under-20 World Cup.
The dates for the Under-20 world cup is not finalised yet by the world governing football body and so as the host country.
Two countries namely Poland and India have submitted formal bids to host the tournament.
FIFA is expected to announce the successful host after the FIFA Council meeting this Friday (Saturday Solomon Islands Time) in Bogotá, Colombia.
The National under-19 training squad
Goalkeepers:
Darwin AOMATANGI (RenBell), Junior GATU (Guadalcanal) Junior John MATA (Honiara)
Defenders:
Henfred (Malaita), Phillip POLANCOS (Makira), Richard KERA (Western), Stanford CLEMENT (Honiara), Collin LOKATA (Malaita), Raymond DAUABU (Malaita), Absolom WAWANE (Malaita), Junior AENGARI (Honiara), Sebastian AKORIU (Guadalcanal), Casper MAMAE (RenBell), Stanley RYNIKER (Honiara), Anthony RASAU (Western) and John AETA (Marist FC)
Midfielders:
William KOMASI (Malaita), Nashville HITE (Western), Clinton OTOI (Honiara), Hubert AU (Honiara), David KOESI (Guadalcanal), Simon WOLFGANG (Western Utd), Don KEANA (Honiara), Lino HOU (Guadalcanal), Alfred KAFU (Malaita), Mathew FAGONO (Malaita), Junior BAKO (Honiara), Henry RAMO (Malaita), Colton LUI (RenBell), Frank KABUI (Malaita), Martin DEPORES (Guadalcanal), Clayton MENAPA (Honiara), Milton MEKE (Central), Ian TUTU (Honiara), Steward SARU (Waimapuru), Marcus CHAN (Spain), Alfred Jr TAGINI (Makira)
Forwards:
Charles MANI (Malaita), Ali MEKAWIR (Honiara), Densley GESENI (Guadalcanal), Steve MANE (RenBell), Steve SIWA (Makira), Marlon NONONE (Real Kakamora) and Junior DAVID (Western).
Europe-based Marcus Chan is one of the players drafted into the national under-19 training squad.
Batram Suri is one of the candidates in the running for the under-19 head coaching role
BY ROMULUS HUTA
Batram Suri is one of the candidates in the running for the under-19 head coaching role
THE coaches for the national under-19 and the under-16 teams will be decided by the Solomon Islands Football Federation (SIFF) this week.
A meeting that is proposed to take place either today or tomorrow will decide the appointment of candidates for the head coaching roles for the under-19 and the under-16, the SIFF technical department confirms yesterday.
The meeting is expected to be convened by the SIFF technical director Felipe Vega-Arango Alonso for SIFF officials and representatives from the football coaches association.
Several candidates are in the running for the coaching roles for both under-19 and the under-16 squads.
For the national under-16 side, the current senior assistant coach and former national rep Stanley Waita is one of the candidates who is in the running for the head coaching role.
Regarding the under-19, Batram Suri and others are in the running for the head coaching role.
The naming of the coaches is part of preparations toward this year’s respective Oceania championships for both the under-19 and the under-16.
The Oceania Under-19 world cup qualifiers will be held in Tahiti in August while the Oceania Under-16 world cup qualifiers will be held in Honiara in September.
The top two winners from each of the qualifiers will progress to the 2019 FIFA Under-20 and the FIFA Under-17 World Cups respectively.
The host nations of both world cups are yet to be determined by the world governing football body.
Two countries namely Poland and India have submitted formal bids to host the under-20 world cup while three countries namely Rwanda, Kenya and Singapore are in the running to host the under-17 world cup.
FIFA is expected to announce the successful hosts for both tournaments after the FIFA Council meeting this Friday (Saturday Solomon Islands Time) in Bogotá, Colombia.
Henry Fa'arodo Junior of the SIFF Technical Department
BY ROMULUS HUTA
Henry Fa’arodo Junior of the SIFF Technical Department
THE Solomon Islands Football Federation (SIFF) technical department will be taking tough stance on members of the national under-16 and the under-19 training squads concerning the habits of betelnut chewing and cigarette smoking.
According to a statement released by the SIFF technical department yesterday, Development Officer Henry Fa’arodo Junior expressed that any player who is caught chewing betelnut and smoking will be kicked out immediately.
The call comes as SIFF calls in training and trials for members of the national under-19 training squad which was named yesterday.
Fa’arodo Junior, who was a former national rep himself having risen through the ranks from the under-17 up to the senior level, explained that being a national representative comes with a lot of responsibility.
“Therefore, we will not tolerate and entertain those members of the under-16 and the under-19 training squads who continue to engage in chewing betel nut and smoking.
“The SIFF technical department wants to make this as a standard for national teams across all ranks.
“Players supposed to be upholding good sporting values such as refrainining from smoking and chewing betelnut which could only reduce their playing conditions (or fitness),” Fa’arodo Junior said.
Meanwhile, most of the players in the 44-man national under-19 training squad named yesterday was selected during the Youth Solomon Cup in January with only four exceptions which includes Marist defender and Europe-based Marcus Chan.
The national under-16 training squad was already named in January.
The national under-16 and the under-19 teams are training toward the upcoming youth oceania championships to be held this year.
The Oceania Under-19 championship will be held in Tahiti in August while the Oceania Under-16 Championship will be played in Honiara in September.
Fa’arodo Junior said the under-19 training squad will commence preparation with trials starting Monday next week at SIFF Academy.
Former senior government officer gives perspective on Hell’s Point $50 million court of appeal award
By Alfred Sasako
A former senior public servant has given perspective on the $50 million pay-out being demanded for the Hell’s Point waste land in east Honiara, saying there is no shred of evidence in law to support the payment.
“Based on the 1977 Land and Titles Act, businessman Patrick Wong and Levers Solomon Ltd are not entitled to receive a single cent for Hell’s Point. It is not their land,” Alfred Aihunu, who once worked in the Office of the Prime Minister, told Island Sun over the weekend.
“All alienated land were returned to landowners based on the traditional blood system. The Court of Appeal was too rushed in making the award, which in my view is inconsistent with the spirit of the 1977 Land and Titles Act.
“In my view, the CoA erred in its judgement because it did not understand the background to the land tenure system, which prompted the British Government to enact the 1977 Land and Titles Act to address what is happening today,” Mr Aihunu said.
“That Act reflects the fact that customary land and alienated land are one and the same when it comes to ownership. Ownership is based the blood system,” he said.
Aihunu said Solomon Islands was to have had its independence a year early but because the land tenure system was a major issue at the time, independence was delayed by a year to July 7, 1978.
“It was a report by Sir David Kausimae (1975-76) which brought the issue rather poignantly. The report pointed out that while the British Government talked about post-independence development Solomon Islands no longer has land for this development because all the prime land which were largely alienated land were in the hands of foreigners.
“The Government under Sir Peter Kenilorea took up the concern with the British Government, which promptly enacted the 1977 Land and Titles Act based on the British ownership of land which is based on the blood system,” Aihunu said.
He said when the 1977 Land and Titles Act was enacted, all alienated land were automatically returned to the traditional landowners.
“This is why land is not saleable in Solomon Islands unless you are an indigenous Solomon Islander. But even then, land sale transaction is only allowed between two indigenous Solomon Islanders,” he said.
“To give away $50 million for people who never owned Hell’s Point in the first place makes no sense. No, the government must never pay the $50 million. It is not supported by law.”
[Tomorrow (Friday) Island Sun will publish the Management Agreement which shows businessman Patrick Wong was never an investor. He was merely an employee of CEMA according to the Agreement he signed on February 27, 2003]
Sharon Firisua competing in the 1500m of the Victoria Open and Para Championship.
BY ROMULUS HUTA
Sharon Firisua competing in the 1500m of the Victoria Open and Para Championship.
NATIONAL distance female rep to the Commonwealth Games next month has a clocked season’s best time in last week’s Victoria Milers competition in Australia.
Running in the women’s 1500m open, Firisua clocked 5:01.06s to give her a season’s best achievement.
Firisua is currently training with Glenhuntly Athletics Club in Melbourne along with fellow male country long distance rep Patrick Kam.
The arrangement to have Firisua and Kam train in Australia comes under an International Olympic Committee (IOC) funded scholarship.
The scholarship is to enable the country’s top athletes train at performance-enhancing facilities overseas to prepare them for upcoming global sporting events such as the Commonwealth Games next month and the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.
Kam also participated in the Victoria Milers in the 1500m event and completed the race with a time of 4:21.37s.
A week before the Milers’ competition, both Firisua and Kam participated in the Victorian Open and Para Championship.
Though they could not progress beyond the preliminary heats, Kam clocked 4:22.18s while Firisua finished the race with a time of 5:03.09s.
In another separate event that was held toward the end of February, the duo took part in the Warburton Fun Run and claimed the second spots in both the women’s and men’s categories.
Racing along a 5 kilometer course, Kam was placed second in the men’s and stopped the clock with a time of 8.09s behind Sam Toll (17.43s). Firisua finished the race clocking 20.42s behind Vanessa Wilson who crossed the finish line first with a time of 20.14s.
Firisua said the good results produced over the past two weeks during their training camp in Melbourne are expected to help boost them for the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast next month.
“Though we don’t have much more left but I think so far so good,” Firisua said.
Firisua and Kam are two of the four athletes that will represent Solomon Islands in athletics next month in Gold Coast.
The other two are sprinters Kevin Pio and Samantha Rofo.
THE Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) will carry out their second round assessment of Renbel Province’s preparation to host this year’s Solomon Games.
Permanent Secretary, Mr George Palua said the games local organizing committee wants to host 12 or 14 sports during the games but will depend on the assessments that will be carried out next month.
“At the moment I do not have any new information as such, but I have been informed a week or so ago that NOCSI is sending a technical Team to assess the sports facilities being built or existing in RenBell Province for hosting of the Solomon Games later on this year, 2018,” Mr Palua said.
“They should be able to advise on what kinds of sports can be hosted given the availability of the venues even though the Province has indicated their desire to host 12 or 14 sports during the Solomon Games.
Palua said the Provincial Executive is now required to appoint a Local Organizing Committee (LOC) who will be assisted by the Solomon Games Council and the Province to work in close consultation with MHA to organize the games later on this year.
The PS said their ministry is still determined to support the province to host the Solomon Games but wants the provincial government to first settle their current political issue.
“The Province as we know is undergoing some political issues that needs immediate settlement before they can continue with the construction of new or improvement of existing facilities,” Palua said.
“MHA is still determined to assist the Province in providing the venues needed for the Games through budget support
“A second round of assessment by the Ministry will be sometimes in April to get progress report and assessment of the work done and the utilization of the funds provided to the Province, they will be accompanied by officers from Finance this time round,” he said.
Meanwhile, Renbel Province Premier Collin Singamoana provincial government is expected to face a motion of no confidence Tuesday next week.
Gary Nuopula and Lalma during a training match at Multipurpose Hall
BY ROMULUS HUTA
Gary Nuopula and Lalma during a training match at Multipurpose Hall
THE two table tennis players that will represent Solomon Islands in next month’s Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia have vowed to do their best.
Gary Nuopula and Lalma Sifi are the two national table tennis players that were selected by the Solomon Islands Table Tennis Federation (SITTF) to participate in the Games.
Though it is expected to be tough, the duo told SunSPORTS on Monday that they are ready.
“The Commonwealth Games will be tough. During the past Pacific Games I’ve knocked out in the round of 16 and missed out of the quarter finals. But this year, I’m happy to come back again to compete and represent Solomon Islands. My training so far is going well and I’m improving every day,” Nuopula said.
Nuopula added: “Since it’s my first time to compete in the commonwealth games, I will do my very best to try and compete against my opponents.
“We’re training three hours each day, six days a week at the Multipurpose Hall.
Nuopula marked his international debut for Solomon Islands during the 2009 Pacific Mini Games in Rarotonga, Cook Islands.
Recalling the Rarotonga outing nine years ago and playing at the regional stage as a teenager, Nuopula said he had grown with a lot of experiences along the way, especially taking into account the other pacific games he had competed in since 2009.
“Of course, I’m a bit nervous at first because I was playing in a different country in a completely different environment. But the thing is that I keep on believing in myself and the trainings that I went through. I’ve came a long way to be here and now is the time for me to perform to the best and there’s nothing that I should be afraid of when competing in Gold Coast.”
Gary Nuopula and Lalma Sifi are ready to represent Solomon Islands in next month’s Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast.
For the female table tennis player, Sifi is obviously following in the footsteps of her father and her elder siblings who were all former national table tennis reps.
“I think table tennis is something that is very much part of us and everyone in the family. My father and my elder sisters have in the past represented Solomon Islands in international games overseas and here I am, at it again.
“This is my first Commonwealth Games and this is an exciting opportunity for me to represent Solomon Islands.
“My aim is to perform to the best,” Sifi said.
Nuopula and Sifi will travel with the Solomon Islands contingent to Gold Coast on March 25.
The Commonwealth Games will run from April 4 to 15.
Sharon Firisua and Patrick Kam joins the other members of Glenhuntly athletics for a group photoshoot during a training session. (INSERT) Sharon Firisua races toward the finish line in the 1500m of the Victoria Milers race last week
BY ROMULUS HUTA
Sharon Firisua and Patrick Kam joins the other members of Glenhuntly athletics for a group photoshoot during a training session. (INSERT) Sharon Firisua races toward the finish line in the 1500m of the Victoria Milers race last week
FEMALE national distance runner Sharon Firisua is having doubts she might not perform to her best in next month’s Commonwealth Games given she started very late in her training.
Firisua is one of the four athletes that will represent Solomon Islands in athletics in the Commonwealth Games which will begin on April 4 in Gold Coast.
Since February 23, Firisua and fellow male country long distance rep Patrick Kam are being training at the Glenhuntly Athletics Club in Melbourne, Australia.
The arrangement to have Firisua and Kam train in Australia comes under an International Olympic Committee (IOC) funded scholarship.
The scholarship is to enable the country’s top athletes train at performance-enhancing facilities overseas to prepare them for upcoming global sporting events such as the Commonwealth Games next month and the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.
Speaking to SunSPORTS from Melbourne yesterday, Firisua said that due to other circumstances, she and her partner could not depart earlier for Australia to get an earlier start to their preparations.
“We left on February 22 and now we only have one month left to prepare for the Commonwealth Games.
“Our trip had a bit of a delay from the start due to other circumstances.
“One month of training is not enough and involves a lot of tiring catch up sessions on fitness and pretty much hard work,” Firisua, who claimed top female athlete award of the 2017 Pacific Mini Games in Vanuatu said.
Despite this, Firisua and Kam remain optimistic of putting up to their best when competing on the tracks in the 5,000m events in both the men and women’s categories where they will take part in.
“Well, as I have mentioned I’m not ready due to late preparation. This is my second time to participate in the Commonwealth and I already know what to expect. It will be tough. The Commonwealth is the same as the Olympics. The pace of the race is tough and holds not so much difference with the Olympic Games.
“But anyway, I just have to leave all this behind and put up strong focus to concentrate on the great opportunity ahead which racing the tracks against the best in Gold Coast next month.
“We participated in two competitions in the previous weeks and came up really good results.
“We look forward to the opportunity in the Commonwealth Games and our aim is to finish with better results on the finish line,” she said.
Firisua and Kam will spend the next remaining weeks and days this month training in Melbourne before joining the rest of the ‘One Team Solomon’ members prior to the kickoff of the Games.
Firisua and Kam are expected to meet the rest of the ‘One team Solomon’ members in Brisbane on March 25, enroute to the Games in Gold Coast.
The Commonwealth Games will run from April 4 to 15.
ADELIUA Taiwanese farm at Fiu, near Auki, has extended its set-up for farmers within the central region in Malaita province.
Taiwanese style of farming was first introduced at Adeliua in Fiu in 2016, and has played a vital role for farmers especially to introduce the similar settings back in their communities in terms of farming.
Speaking to this paper yesterday, Enoch Gwala, Taiwanese worker at Adeliua, said the idea of the Taiwanese agriculture set up is good especially for the people in the rural communities to improve their subsistence farming.
He said, in some cases people often burn their rubbish after clearing the sites for their farms but it is not the right way to preserve the soil for farming.
Gwala added, the Taiwanese farming ideas introduced at Adeliua are more helpful in terms of soil preservation.
In the Taiwanese farm they introduced new format of planting pana, sweet potatoes, cassava, sugar cane, bean, taro, peanut and some other local types of crops and vegetables.
ROws of Cassava blocks at Adeliua Taiwanese farmNew blocks for Peanut at AdeliuaPart of the sugar cane FarmRows of Pana at AdeliuaTaiwanese farm office at Adeliua at FiuThe new ploughed site prepared for vegetables
