Young Samoan athletes are getting an opportunity to be coached by one of the top ranked countries  in the Provincial Hockey Premiership. 

The Mudgee Hockey Team, based out of New South Wales,  Australia, is touring around Upolu visiting schools, holding clinics and introducing hockey to Samoa.   

The contingent, organised by Nico Ioane, who  is of Samoan descent , and his wife  Jo,  arrived with bags  full of equipment  for the athletes from sponsors in Australia. 

This grassroots development project is producing positive outcomes with many players being exposed to hockey at a young age. 

 Faamausili Taiva Ah Young, the Chief Executive Officer of SASNOC and President of the Hockey Samoa Federation, stated, “ The programs are going really well.  We went to Savaii and over 520 kids have been introduced to hockey.  We went to four schools and one community organization in Savaii.  

Then on Saturday ,we had the first hockey tournament in Savaii with over 300 participants. Overall we were really pleased with the progress in Savaii.  Looks like we’re going to have a lot of potential players from Savaii.”