On April 24, 2007, while attending a conference in the Solomons, Tarkong was able to meet the new President of Solomons Wrestling Federation, Mr. Tongoua Tabe. Tabe is a teacher and volunteer and was quite eager to seek help with their wrestling program. Tabe was able to discuss their situation and difficulties in making a comeback in their sport after the crisis in the Solomons. Tarkong provided an update to Mr. Tabe on types of programs available to them and how it would be important to continue to develop their programs and to seek support from their NOC, Sponsors and FILA.
Tarkong was invited to attend their practice on Tuesday, 4/24/07 and unlike many of us who have a gymnasium, it was quite interesting to find a wrestling mat located in a small shack. I wasn't quite sure where the canvas / cover of the mat was until I looked up and saw that it was being used as a ceiling / roof. Nevertheless, we had practice from 5:00pm till 7:00pm. With about 20 wrestlers taking part in the practice, it was quite exciting. There were mostly new wrestlers with the exception of Katea Ueresi and Teibana Mase who wrestled previously and had the most experience. It was really nice to see Katea and Tibana because if you recall, they were in Palau in year 2002 for a few months preparing for the Commonwealth Games. Although Katea was still fit, Teibana is now a heavy weight and still in good shape. Most of the wrestlers are in school and are junior wrestlres but we've arranged to have practice everyday in the afternoon so after my meeting, I just get up and run to the site and practice. I'm in the solomons till May 04th so we hope to have a successful practice while I'm here and hopefully I won't get bitten.
Last Modified on 29/04/2007 14:49