Marist celebrates achievements
Pride and Prestige are the words to describe the legacy of greatness that Marist has produced.
Wednesday night, friends and family gathered at Marist St. Joseph’s Sports Club in Lotopa to celebrate another great year of Sporting achievements.
No one was more proud then, the President of Marist Sports Club, Faimalomatumua Matthew Lemisio who shared with the Samoa Observer the goals and mission of Marist Sports Club.
“Basically what we’re doing now is rewarding our players for the achievements that they’ve done. Like any other sports club, we’ve gone through the year with sports and stuff,” he said.
However, this year Marist has had a lot to celebrate as they expanded their horizons and ventured into developing other sports.
He stated, “For some years, we fully concentrated on rugby. But we’ve realized it’s a sports club, so we looked into developing other sports other than rugby. As you can see, we have a boxing ring, touch team, rugby league team, rugby team and netball team.”
“Our long term vision is contributed to the development of sports on a national level to concentrate on the grassroots. And having these awards will give the kids that sort of incentive to strive to do better. They know that at the end of the year, they’re going to get a reward.”
“We have a lot of established personnel in sports. We have people looking after rugby and league. IF you look at the National League Body, it’s actually Marist people running it. We’re covered in that it’s just a matter of attracting more players because we need to build that players base.
“With boxing, we now have am academy and we’re concentrating on 10 and 11 year olds. We’re built from that and we believe that’s where the potential is.”
Marist is home of excellent sportsmen like Joseph Fuimaono, James Sio and Mikaele Tapili who recently represented Samoa in the National U20’s team and are well acquainted with playing on the international stage.
These players have not only made their country proud but especially their club as they leave their mark for generations of players to come.
For Faimalomatumua, this is exactly the plan. He stated, “That’s the whole idea of what we’re trying to do. We develop these guys and when they take another step up in representative rugby; our focus will go back to developing the next lot.
That’s our contribution to National Sport. Because what happens is that it’s most often that we do not have succession plans. We build a team and they become a champion team and then when their done, and pass their peak, we do not have a succession plan.
“That’s why we’re focusing on the grassroots and seeing these guys getting to their potential and representing Samoa is the pinnacle of what we’re trying to do.”
Overall, it was definitely a great way to end a successful year.
Winners:
Marist Academy Boxing Awards:
1. Divine Alalatoa
2. Jack Wenrer
3. Leota Brothers (Christina Pio & Faateleupu Junior)
4. Lewis Stanley
5. Leon Coleon Stanley
6. Malumalusa Temple Mulipola
Rugby Union
U20
Forwards Player of the Year- Joesph Fuimaono
Backs Player of the Year- James Fiso
MVP- Mikaele Tapili
Senior A
Forwards player of the year- Faigalotu Taamilosaga
Backs player of the year- Joe Taaloga
MVP- Lolo Tualaulelei
7’s
Forwards Player of the Year- Sanele Williams
Backs Player of the Year- Faletoa Moli
MVP- Joe Perez
Rugby League
9’s (Sponsored by Fouina Su’a)
Forward of the Year- Roma Leuluaialii
Back of the Year- Gordon Lemisio
MVP- Tevaga Paul Chan Tung
13’s
Forward of the Year- Peter Suluape
Back of the Year- David Fetalaiga
MVP- Tevaga Paul Chan Tung
Other Awards
Team Model of the Year- Petia Tavete
Team Joker of the Year- Emile Fanene
Best Try of the Year- Moomoo Faleniko
Rookie of the Year- Gus Kalapu
Sonny Bill Award- Faigalotu Taamilosaga
Most Improved Player of the Year- Eddia Gafo
X Award- Kuki Vailolo Farani
Best Tackle of the Year- Pousea Tofilau