AS invited to 2nd Pacific Youth and Sports Conference in Noumea

The 2nd Pacific Youth and Sport Conference (PYASC) will be held in Noumea later this year from December 2-7 and American Samoa has been invited to attend. Since February 1, close to 40 local youths have signed up for the trip.
 
This is according to the Acting Director of the Department of Youth and Women’s Affairs (DYWA) Pa’u Roy Taito Ausage who led the delegation that traveled to Manukau City, Auckland, New Zealand in March 2010, during the 1st PYASC. He is now spearheading fundraising efforts to send more local youth to the 2nd PYASC later this year.
 
Pa’u told the Samoa News via email that due to the current economic financial crisis, the American Samoa Government will not be able to fund the trip and therefore, those who have signed up to attend have agreed to participate in fundraising activities like car washes, siva nights, and walkathons. 
 
“Having young people fund raise and work towards a goal is a good training for them to get used to and develop work ethics,” Pa‘u said.
 
Two car washes were held on Feb. 9 and Mar. 1 in front of the old Transpac building in Nuuuli across from Haleck Service Station. Another car wash will be held on March 22 at the same location and $5 tickets are on sale. 
 
Pa’u said there will be two car wash fundraisers every month to raise enough money to fund the trip. 
 
“As Acting Director of the Department of Youth and Women’s Affairs, I want to extend my sincere appreciation and faafetai tele to Governor Lolo Moliga, members of the cabinet, honorable senators and representatives, the business community, family members, friends, and the general public for supporting the last two car washes,” Pa‘u said, adding that they are asking for continued support of their fundraising efforts.
 
He said anyone in the business community who has a project that requires cleaning up, painting, weeding, etc., is welcomed to contact them to carry out the work “in order for us to obtain funds for this project.”
 
The deadline for registration to be part of the American Samoa delegation is Mar. 29, 2013. 
 
Since after the 1st PYASC in 2010, heads of delegations have had three meetings in New Zealand and New Caledonia to prepare for the 2nd PYASC. The government of New Caledonia has committed to host the 2nd PYASC in conjunction with the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC), the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC), and other regional and international partners. 
 
BACKGROUND
 
During the 1st PYASC in 2010, American Samoa was invited by the OFC through the Department of Youth and Women’s Affairs and the Football Federation of American Samoa (FFAS).  Fourteen youth representatives from various youth and sports organizations including the Teen Challenge Ministries (TCM), the American Samoa Coalition on Teen Pregnancy Prevention (ASCTPP), the Boy Scouts of America (BSA), the American Samoa Nurses Association (ASNA), the Congregational Christian Church of American Samoa (CCCAS), the Seventh Day Adventist Church (SDA), the Catholic Diocese of Samoa Pago Pago (CDSP), the Football Federation of American Samoa (FFAS), and DYWA were in attendance. 
 
DYWA Deputy Director Pa’u Roy Taito Ausage led the delegation, assisted by Rev. Gaoa Mauga of the ASTPPC and the Division of Family Planning at the LBJ Medical Center. 
 
An estimated 800 people representing 17 Pacific Island countries and territories participated in the conference which was a six-day event that involved seminars, workshops, and interactive roundtables where country delegations drafted concrete action plans to take back and implement in their region.
 
During the conference opening, OFC announced that top conference projects would share $100K as a funding boost to help implement the best projects drawn up and submitted to a PYASC projects review committee.
 
PYASC Chairman Tai Nicholas said the funding was available through FIFA and is attached to OFC’s ‘Football for Life’ program.  “We have funds of $100,000USD to assist organizations and projects that will link sports with positive social development,” said Nicholas.  “In the same way that sport teaches young people to be competitive, this conference is like a competition as participants will need to listen intently to the guest speakers and have productive meetings so they can come up with original ideas.” 
 
The $100K was divided into five lots of $20,000 each. The four best strategies from the Pacific Island countries and territories got $20K each while the remainder of the money was split into five lots of $4,000 each for the most promising New Zealand projects. 
 
Each delegation presented their best plan to their respective Minister of Sport and submitted it to the review committee at the end of the conference.
 
R.E.S.U.L.T.S. PROJECT
 
The American Samoa delegation submitted a project entitled RESULTS: R for Recreation, E for Exercise, S for Soccer, U for You, L for Lose, T for Trim, and S for Slim. 
 
The project was one of the top four winning projects and earned one of the $20,000 prizes. 
 
The RESULTS project was launched in May 2011 and closed in August 31, 2011 at the CCCAS Kanana Fou soccer field with close to 16 teams participating.
 
The teams engaged in recreational soccer twice a week with FFAS staff officiating the games.  At the beginning of every month, nurses from the LBJ Medical Center and the Department of Health were involved in measuring weight and glucose levels of all the participants. 
 
By September 2011, the program had shifted to the East Side at the FFAS soccer field in Pago Pago.  Twelve teams participated during a span of three months, following a similar format to the games played on the west side. The second phase was officially closed on December 11, 2011.
 
Pa’u told the Samoa News that the data collected from the project will be presented during the 2nd PYASC.
 
Having renamed the program in January 2013, RESULTS — (Recreational Exercise using Sports, U Lose, Trim, and Slim) — it now focuses on all sports, and not just soccer.
 
The project kicked off last month on Feb. 11 and at least 30 youth participants are continually participating in sporting activities held at the Tafuna Veterans Memorial Stadium, the OMV track, and the field at Lions Park.
 
More information can be obtained by contacting Pa’u or Orepa Faoa directly at 633-2835.