THE INAUGURAL OCEANIA
GRAND MASTERS, SAMOA 2013.
This year was my fourth trip to Samoa for Judo and I found the island to be as beautiful as I left it in November 2012 despite having suffered from the onslaught of another cyclone last November/December. I have always believed that from bad luck there is always a tiny bit of good and the evidence was there in the form of some new roads with two lanes each way, more traffic lights, and the amazing friendliness of the Samoan people from the tiniest child up to the older people. They always have a smile ready for you and are willing to help you in any way that they can.
I arrived at the airport at 1.00am after a rather hectic departure from Melbourne. As I walked into the arrival hall there was a Samoan band playing music from Samoa, the weather was wonderful, a beautiful 27 degrees which was very welcome after Melbourne’s 18 degrees, palm trees waving in a pre dawn gentle breeze and met by the officials from Polynesian Explorer, dressed in the traditional Samoandress of matching brightly coloured long cotton skirts and tops for the women and for the men a Lava Lava which is a plain coloured “skirt” and a brightly coloured shirt, representing the Judo Association of Samoa and all with those wonderful smiles.
In the next few days there was much to do before the tournament. Francois Martel, the incredibly hard working President of the Judo Association of Samoa and the co-ordinator of the events took LennieNiit, the President of the Oceania Judo Union, Peter Herrmann, the Technical Director of the OJU and myself to see the new venue. It was the gymnasium at the National University of Samoa; a building with a beautiful atmosphere and the most unbelievable arched/domed ceiling where the support structure was all timber. The hall was more than adequate to lay the two contest areas that were required and to accommodate all the additional tables and chairs etc. that are required to present an event of this standard. The public seating ran parallel to the contest areas on both sides of the hall and there was a large area for the dignitaaries of Samoa that included the Minister for Sport, the Prime Minister who was represented and officials of the Oceania Judo Union, their guests and the tournament commissions who were all present for the Opening Ceremony on Thursday evening. This ceremony included a local group of dancers and vocalists who were amazing and quite beautiful in performing traditional dance and vocal items and who will perform in Dandenong, an outer suburb of Melbourne in December where I will try to get the local judoka to support them.
Samoan Choir and Dancers
The Inaugural Oceania Grand Masters event was held on the Thursday morning with, as I have discovered, the unique atmosphere of Masters events. Katas were presented as the first item on the programme, judged by Ivor Endicott Davies as the Chairman of the OJU Kata Commission, Peter Herrmann as the Technical Director of the OJU and Carlos Knoester as the Chairman of the OJU Referees Commission. I am pleased to say that all presentations were up to medal standard although gold medals were not awarded. This was followed by the very keenly contested individual Shiai tournament with entries from Samoa, French Polynesia, Australia, New Zealand and South Korea.
Although the number of entries in both Kata and Shiai were small the tournament was a great success and gathered an amazing amount of enthusiasm amongst not only the competitors but the officials and volunteers. With this in mind I look forward to the 2014 Oceania Masters event, the date and venue of which will be announced in the near future.
At the completion of the Masters event we progressed to the Continental Open where Samoa won their first medal in the five years that the event has been held there…. As you can imagine the excitement for the Samoans was huge and you’ve never seen a happier local group of judoka covering all age groups, including the President!
The Oceania Judo Union hosted a wonderful farewell dinner on the Saturday night where many people were recognised for their devotion and faithful commitment to our wonderful sport. This included people who have continually, and continue to give their time and energy to ensure that the standards that we have all come to expect are maintained.
The tradition of the officials which include the Referees of taking children’s books as a gift for the more under privileged children of Samoa continued this year and will be given to a school where they are needed. The entire Samoan community are very grateful for these donations.
In closing thisbrief report I want to mentionin particular certain people who have supported this event in Samoa at their own expense with a small amount of financial assistance over the years. Ed Colliver from Australia, Hector Fuentes from Australia, Kevin Thrower from New Zealand, Michalele Vargas from American Samoa, Michelle and Franz de Villiers from New Zealand who are all multi task people and will “fill in” wherever they are needed according to their skills and for myself, I am delighted to have been appointed as the Director of the OJU Veterans Commission and will continue to promote the Masters/Veterans events in the OJU to the best of my ability.
S.G.Moorshead,
Director, OJU Veterans/Masters Commission.20.11.13