Pasifika Youth & Community Sports Tournament

Otago Community Trust was pleased to approve a $20,000 grant in June 2022 to assist with the cost of Pacific Trust Otago's youth Sport Tournament Programme. Collaborating with youth and community representatives from nine Pasifika communities - Samoa, Tonga, Cook Islands, Tuvalu, Kiribati, Fiji, Niue, Tokelau & Vanuatu/Solomons/Papua New Guinea, Pacific Trust Otago will plan, deliver, and evaluate three tournaments all held at the Edgar Centre during the school holidays. Two now completed and the final tournament scheduled for April 2023.

 

The focus of the Sport Tournament programme is about bringing members of the Pacific community together (children, young people and adults) to connect and have fun together playing sports and for non-players to support their whanau. Sport Tournaments create a 'village' like environment where Pacific people can bring who they are as a people, enjoy a sense of belonging and experience pride in their respective cultural identities.

 

Otago Community Trust Grants Manager Sue Stewart highlighted that it was wonderful to see the Pasifika young people get to connect with other youth and get exposed to inspiring Pacific role models, like George Bower (All Blacks) and Jona Nareki (Super Rugby, Highlanders).