Samoa Games

Both the men and the women’s team had two training camps last month to trim down the squad to 30 players.

After the first camps last month, 30 men and 30 women were selected to undergo the second training camp.

The final 23 players with seven non-travelling reserves will be announced next month before the team leaves for Samoa for the July games.

In a press conference, PNGFA President, John Kapi Natto, said the sport has steadily reached new heights, where the climax was almost reached by the men’s team during the 2016 OFC Nations Cup.

The event was last held a decade ago but is but is being revived in an attempt to address the country's poor performance at the Olympics, Commonwealth and Pacific Games.

CEO of the Samoa Association of Sports and National Olympic Committee, Fa'amausili Taiva Ah Young, said research showed there was not enough competition locally to prepare elite athletes.

"That was how we decided to have a competition. In actual fact we now have three competitions: one is in April, one is in June and the main one is the Samoa Games."