News

Boost for Rugby League as Samoa opens PacificAus Sport Hub in Apia

Published by APRL
07 Nov 2020

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) has today officially opened the new PacificAus Sports Regional Hub in Apia, Samoa.

Australian Foreign Minister, the Hon. Marise Payne, and the Prime Minister of Samoa, the Hon. Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, officially launched the new hub that will deliver the PacificAus Sports High Performance activities from 2020 to 2023, including providing supporting training and competition for Pacific athletes, teams and sports administrators.

The PacificAus Sports program is an initiative of DFAT’s Sports Diplomacy 2030 and Australia’s Pacific Step-Up programmes and is focused on:

  • develop pathways for Pacific teams to play in high-level Australian sporting competitions
  • support Australian teams to increase their presence and participation in the Pacific, and
  • create pathways for emerging Pacific athletes to benefit from high performance coaching and training.

The PacificAus Sports program operates across a number of sports, including Rugby League and will work across all Pacific countries, with a special focus on driving sports engagement with Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu.

The program complements DFAT’s existing Pacific sports for development program focussed on grassroots development outcomes in sport.

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