SPEECH BY THE HON. MINISTER FOR YOUTH AND SPORTS, LAISENIA TUITUBOU AT THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE 2016 OCEANIA VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

The Chairman of the Oceania Volleyball Organizing Committee

The President of Fiji Volleyball Federation

The Event Commissioner of the Oceania Volleyball Championship

The Chairman of the Referees Commission of Australia,

Presidents of the Oceania Zonal Volleyball Associations

Oceania participating teams

Invited Guests

Ladies and Gentlemen

A big bula vinaka to you all and welcome to Fiji.

We will from today observe not a victory but a celebration of sports and what it can do to an individual as well to the community at large.
Each one of you is here because of sports, you are here maybe because it has been quite a while you are given the opportunity to visit Fiji again.
Indeed, we are quite excited too because it has been after twenty six years (26) that Fiji has again been given the opportunity to host this inaugural event. We are indeed proud to host this year’s Oceania Volleyball Championship.

I thank the Oceania Board of Directors for allowing my country Fiji this golden opportunity to host this event.
Most of us feel that sport is just but a simple game, it is much more than just a game. It symbolises a beginning of something, a dream to an individual and to a team, it also has an end which we all look forward to when we compete in a competition, either a win or a loss. Sport signifies renewal as well as change.
It is full of life lessons. It can teach you about failure, joy, disappointment and excitement. It teaches maturity, teamwork, humility and selflessness.
The world is very different now in the way it looks at sport; it is a unifying force that cuts across all forms of discrimination, racial barriers, religious and ethnicity. It is a force to reckon with as it builds relationships, forge friendship and for man to hold in his mortal hands the power to abolish human poverty and self-righteousness.

And yet for some the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still an issue around the globe. Here today, we need to change this and it is here today that the new relationships in sport will need to be strengthened, revitalised and renewed.
The Fijian Government is committed to sports development and has embraced the idea of a broader transformation of sports structures that will define the challenges facing the sports sector and to provide a clear framework of principles and mechanism for effecting the changes needed for the sports sector.
As a result of this transformation, the establishment of the Fiji National Sports Commission came into being to specifically institute a clear and manageable framework to guide and enhance the delivery of sports programmes in the country, including the sport of volleyball.
We dare not forget today that we are the new heirs of change in sport. Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friends and foes alike, that the torch and flame of good sportsmanship is rekindled here in this house and to be passed on to your respective countries and fellow sports people that we discard the desecration of sports and embrace a modern perspective of change in our sports communities and this should be allowed to stay in order to experience its benefits and the creation of a truly stable sports community.

I have been advised that seven (7) countries including Kiribati, Samoa, Solomon, New Caledonia, Tuvalu, Tonga and Fiji will be challenging each other for the top postions. There are a total of seventeen (17) teams of eight (8) men’s and nine (9) women’s teams.
In addition, I have also been advised that in the weekend, your technical officials who will be officiating during the week underwent an extensive period of training on the rules and regualtions of the sport. I wish each one of you the best in undertaking your respective roles be it referees, scorers, linesmen or floor moppers, you learn as you go along and at the end of the week, there should be satisfaction that you have done well.
To all the participating teams, there is nothing more to anything that when you play, realise your potential, believe in yourself and play to the best of your ability.
Allow me to address the importance of believing in inherent ability to help you realize your potential. Our sports societies need to defend themselves against those who wish to impose principles which could adversely affect the creation of reforms that reflect the needs of the people in sports.

The needs of young people should be paramount and will need to be embedded into each plan of sports activities for realisation of potentials. As you participate in the week - long event, you must bear in mind that the sport of volleyball and any other sport for that matter can do wonders in our lives which are to name a few; creation of employment, social cohesion, social transformation, behavioural change for our youths building an effective and a healthy sports community.
Let every sports administrator, technical officials and players know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and the success of sports is paramount.
The Fijian Government welcomes transformation in sports. I do not believe that any of us would approach this in any other way but with energy, faith, trust and devotion, this will brighten the lights of our respective sports communities and all who serve it -- and the glow from that fire can truly light the world.
I will leave you with this powerful challenge by the late John F. Kennedy and I quote; “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country” unquote.

I acknowledge the support rendered to my country from our Oceania officials the opportunity for our local sports administrators to learn from you and hope that this event will continue to be treated as a medium of true sportsmanship and develop long time relationships with you.
I wish all the teams the very best during the week and enjoy your stay in Fiji.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

With those words, it is now my pleasure to officially open the 2016 Oceania Volleyball Championship.

Vinaka Vakalevu.