Dear Editor,

I totally agree with Olo Fiti, the Pacific Games is just a waste of time and valuable resources. Samoa should focus on developing world-class athletes by establishing a world-class sports academy. 

There are already regional games for individual sports so the Pacific people should be looking at developing those games into world-class events.

These Pacific games are too expensive but the quality is not even near world standards. Very few champions from these games can qualify for world-class events and that’s because of the low standards of competition found in these games.

We need to compete with the best and to get there, we need to invest time and valuable resources into developing world beaters.

Manu Samoa needs millions of dollars for a world cup campaign and that’s for resources and expertise needed for preparations.

I can only assume that finance needed for Manu Samoa’s next world cup campaign is probably more than what was invested in the hundreds of athletes and officials in the last Pacific games.

These games should be a stepping-stone to the sporting careers of Pacific athletes but only rugby seemed to excel outside of the Pacific Games and that’s because many rugby players are part of professional clubs outside of the Pacific. It’s time to think outside the box, let’s build on the success of weightlifting and invest money and resources there so that we can find the next Ele.

We always excel in boxing but talent alone is not enough when we step out of the Pacific so why not develop an Olympic champion from home. I see development and competitions in individual sports as an affordable and meaningful alternative to the Pacific games.

It gives smaller nations an equal opportunity in terms of investment in one sport which will help raise the standard of competition.

It also alleviates the strain on small economies when a country hosts a competition of a particular sport. We have talent in contact sports like rugby and boxing so why not invest time and resources to develop athletes in these sports rather than investing in swimming which is quite an expensive sport with very few competitors in Samoa.

In my opinion, it’s just a waste of money and resources to fund and maintain facilities needed for this sport.

Let’s get rid of the Pacific Games because it’s too small, very expensive but not a class act in terms of competition and standards.

Le Mafa P