The Special Olympic Team of American Samoa is looking fit and ready, as they prepare to compete in the Special Olympic Games that will be held in Los Angeles, California from July 24, 2015 to August 3, 2015.

Samoa News was able to meet with the team last week, Thursday evening, and had the chance to speak with some of the players as well as the coach for the track and field team, Valusia Talataina.

The Special Olympic Team of American Samoa continues to train at the Veterans Memorial Stadium for competition in two sporting categories at the Special Olympic Games this month, and according to Athletic Coach Talataina, they will be "taking eight athletes for the Soccer or Football categories of competition, and the Special Olympic players will team up with some of the regular athletes, so they will unify in that part of the competition."

He stated, "for the athletic or track and field category of the competition, we will be taking six athletes — three females and three males. Three of them will be competing in the 100 meter, and four of them will be competing in shot-put. We also have a 4x1 relay team, and we are trying our best to train them to the best of their learning ability."

Talataina noted that during their previous Special Olympic Game appearance in Australia two years ago, three of their team members won Gold Medals – "and we are also taking them again on this trip to California."

He said they have been preparing for this event "since the last three months up to now, and for the last two weeks, we've been trying to train everyday — but due to the weather, we have to cancel practice every now and then for the safety of our players."

The Track and field coach, Talataina told Samoa News that this upcoming event, is a very serious competition because, "the competition we participated in Australia was only for the Asia Pacific Region, but this Special Olympic Games in L.A. will be a worldwide event, so we need to stay on top of our game, and continue to work with the kids."

The Special Olympic competition will be divided into all the competing categories – American Samoa will compete in the Track and Field (also known as Athletics) competition, and it will be hosted at the University of Southern California (USC) Stadium, and will stay there throughout competition.

He added, "for our football (soccer) team that will be going, their competition will be hosted at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) Stadium, and their group will also be staying at the UCLA complex throughout their period of competition."

Talataina said "there are about 24 of us from the American Samoa delegation that will be going up for this event, which includes our Head of Delegation Tafa Tupuola, and Assistant Head of the Delegation Marilyn Ho Ching Tolmie."

He stated, "We have two coaches that will be managing and supervising our soccer team – but myself and Deanna Fuimaono will be coaching and managing our athletics team."

Talataina mentioned that some of the parent of the players will also be flying up with the whole American Samoa delegation to support our team.  “We are honored to have Senator Afoa Lutu traveling with us, along with his wife and some of the other parents. It's going to be exciting."

Comparing the present Special Olympic team of American Samoa to the last group they took to Australia, Talataina told Samoa News that there are quite a few changes and adjustments that they had to make in comparison to the last team they had.

"We certainly have some new athletes or players joining the team this year, and this will be the first time that they will be traveling off-island to compete and represent American Samoa,“ adding “we are trying to get them ready to compete in front of a huge crowed. Our trainings might be an empty field every evening, but when we get up there, we want our players to get used to playing and focusing on the game with millions of people watching them – it will definitely be a tough mental competition for them as well, so we are trying our best to prep them for that stage."

According to Talataina, the toughest part of this upcoming event will be the 4x1 relay – it's something new to them  “This event will require only the players to be on the track, which means they won't have us coaches around or beside them to mentor them throughout their intercept stations."

“Right now in our training,” he said, “we have some of the parents and coaches stationed at the different points of the track to remind the players of when to pass the baton and encourage them to run and stuff like that, but when the real event come around, we won't be allowed to assist them – that is one of the challenges for us as of now, in trying to adjust to this new sport."

Samoa News asked Talataina about the goals or mission of their approach to the Special Olympic Games this year.

He replied "our goal is to at least come back with something, this is going to be a big deal to all of us – these children, they need our help, and I'm forever grateful and blessed that I have the opportunity to work with them."

"One of our other goals leading up to this event is –even if we don't win anything, we pray and hope that they will return happy and that they enjoyed themselves, knowing that they were part of a worldwide event to represent American Samoa."

The Special Olympics coach concluded with acknowledgements and thanks to those who have been working hard to make this trip possible for our kids.

"I'd like to thank Tafa Tupuola who is one of the members who's put a lot of time into this program, I would also like to acknowledge Taotasi Archie Solia'i and members of the board, and especially the parents that come around to support and help out with our training."

He concluded, "I would like to send our sincerest thanks and appreciation to stadium manager Tole'afoa Henry Tavake, for allowing us to train at the Veterans Memorial Stadium.  Every time we come to the track, it's always open for us to use – and many other supporters out there, we thank you.”