Team PNG Para-Athlete Gold Medallist Steven Abraham to feature in the delivery of K4K
The delivery of the second Kicks 4 Kokoda (K4K) Soccer Tournament is scheduled for August 20th and 21st in Kokoda Station and Buna Village in the Oro Province.
Similar to the first tournament in April of this year, the soccer tournament will conclude the second phase of the Skillz Coach Training under the K4K program.
The K4K tournament is a community health event that involves students who have been trained over eight weeks by the Skillz coaches, community health workers and Team PNG HERO Athletes.
Whilst championing female engagements, inclusivity, and inspiring young children to take up sports, the tournament also embodies the Olympic Values of Excellence, Respect, and Friendship, through the PNG Olympic Committee’s Olympic Values Education Program, and is led by PNGOC Programs Coordinator Rutha Omenefa and Team PNG HERO athletes who are trained to deliver this program.
Team PNG HERO Athletes who will be delivering the tournament are Linda Pulsan (Powerlifting), Raphaela Baki (Boxing) Dianne Vetu (Touch), Basil Joffari and Roland Bala (Soccer), Dennis Kopman (Karate), Dia Muri (Basketball), and Steven Abraham (Para Athletics). Steven is the new addition to the team delivering the program. He is a Silver and Bronze medallist from the recently held 2022 Pacific Mini Games in the 100m Ambulant and Javelin events respectively.
The Kicks 4 Kokoda program is aimed at introducing an evidence-based sport for development (S4D) program to empower adolescents to make better decisions in regard to their health-seeking behaviours, the facilitation of youth-friendly service provision while promoting inclusive and gender equality through sport in the communities. It is a partnership between Kokoda Track Foundation (KTF), Grassroots Soccer (GRS), and the PNG Olympic Committee (PNGOC) and supported by the Australian Government through its Sport for Development Program Team Up.
The Team PNG HERO’s program is the signature PNGOC’s Athlete Ambassador program that reflects PNGOC’s core values of Honesty, Excellence, Respect, and Openness. It also recognizes the importance of empowering other athletes with the necessary skills and knowledge to allow them to become HERO athletes. PNGOC sees Team PNG athletes as role models, having the potential to influence positive change in society and represent the positive values associated with the sport.
PNGOC Secretary General Auvita Rapilla said that the PNGOC was happy to work with these two esteemed organisations in the delivery of both the training and to co-host the K4K Tournament to complement the end of the K4K Skillz Coach Training.
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