ANZ Pacific Nations Cup Legacy Program Launched

The IRB has today launched the ANZ Pacific Nations Cup Legacy program. The Legacy program will offer on-going benefits not only to the participants attending the tournament, but also to local communities. This will be done through a number of initiatives.

The ANZ Pacific Nations Cup Legacy Program will centre around four initiatives:

1.        Millennium Development Goals awareness programs

2.        Manuiti Primary Schools Rugby Competition

3.        ‘Voices of the Athletes’ awareness program

4.        IRB Level 3 Coaching Course

The United Nations (UN) representative for Samoa, Tokelau and the Cook Islands, has pledged support in cultivating a relationship with the Samoan Rugby Union (SRU) to drive awareness of the Pacific Millennium Development Goals (MDG) initiatives.  This signifies a continuation of the partnership which commenced during the Legacy program of the recent IRB Pacific Rugby Cup held in Fiji.  

The partnership reflects the UN and SRU’s commitment to contributing to improving development outcomes in Samoa. The partnership will focus on promoting three of the eight millennium development goals; these are:

·               MDG 2: Achieve Universal Primary Education

·               MDG 3: Promote gender equality and empower women and

·               MDG 4: Promoting child health through recreation and sport

The partnership will include short, medium and long term initiatives commencing in the immediate term with the Samoa Rugby Union’s hosting of the ANZ Pacific Nations Cup and the Manuiti Programme in June 2010.  Other medium and longer initiatives will be finalized in the coming weeks and months including collaboration on the Federation of Oceania Rugby Unions (FORU) U19 Championship in Apia in August.

The delivery strategy for this will be the ANZ Pacific Nations Cup and the SRU’s Manuiti Program; a National Primary Schools mixed tag competition played during the PNC fixtures at Apia Park. A total of 132 primary schools nationwide will be involved in this year’s Manuiti Program, with 576 primary students expected to contest the finals during the Pacific Nations Cup fixtures at Apia Park.

The Pacific Nations Cup, and the International teams it draws to one nation brings an outstanding opportunity for Pacific Rugby to make a statement to the World - that of Pacific Rugby Nations standing together in advocating the importance of Gender Equality and the promotion of health and recreation to our younger generations, which underpins the positive moral direction we strive to achieve through Rugby.

Today saw a joint March with the Samoa, Fiji, Tongan and Japanese rugby teams, together with international swimming teams gathering in Samoa for the Oceania Swimming Championships. Rolling through the city Schools students and an array of NGO and Government department staff will march together from Vaisigano Bridge to the Government building. They gathered at the Government Building to receive key addresses from the Prime Minister and UN Officials before blowing whistles symbolising their willingness to ‘Make a Noise’ in support of the Millennium Development Goals.

The “Voices of the Athletes” Outreach Program encourages Leadership, educating athletes about Anti-Doping, and promoting HIV/AIDS awareness messages. This initiative is spearheaded by theOceania National Olympic Committees (ONOC)Athletes Commission in partnership with the Oceania Regional Anti Doping Office (ORADO) and STOP HIV, all ONOC Programs. These activities will be aimed at the athletes with ‘in house’ sessions being delivered to teams throughout the tournament.

The final component of the Legacy program is education and training within the ranks of Samoa’s elite and potentially elite rugby coaches. The IRB will be holding an IRB Level 3 Coaching course for 25 coaches from Samoa in the first week of the tournament – presenting an outstanding opportunity for the local coaching ranks – and local players – to benefit from the hosting of the ANZ Pacific Nations Cup.