Page 38 - IB November 2024

Sports

TAKING SAMOAN CRICKET TO

NEW HEIGHTS

By Alipate Pareti

Samoa had a successful outing at the Men’s T20 Cricket
East-Asia/Pacific Sub-Regional Qualifiers in August,
demonstrating the great potential and homegrown talent
found in the islands.
Amongst the highlights was Darius Visser’s 39 runs in one
over, a new T20 record.
Samoa International Cricket Association CEO, Sala
Stella Siale Vaea Tagitau, was very pleased with Samoa’s
achievement, which saw them finish on top of the table.
She added that the team's performance “has inspired the
younger generation and shows that Samoa is capable of
competing at the highest level”.
Tagitau gave credit to the players and coaching staff for all
their efforts.
“The major contributor towards the team’s success is their
strong work ethic, commitment, and the solid development
programs that we have here in Samoa, that were put in
place over the years. The players’ focus on fitness, tactical
awareness, mental toughness combined with excellent
coaching and guidance has been key for them.”
Samoa beat Cook Islands, Fiji, and Vanuatu to secure
a place in next year’s combined EAP/Asia Qualifiers
tournament, heading into the T20 World Cup in 2026.

Women’s cricket is thriving
Local Samoan women enjoy fun activities during a community outreach program This year, Samoa’s Under-19 women’s team qualified for the
2025 World Cup, a notable achievement. “We are focusing on
increasing women participation at all levels. The development
and pathways for women are being strengthened and we
are seeing more girls taking up the sport. So we are very
optimistic that womens’ cricket in Samoa will continue to
achieve new heights on the international scale,” said Tagitau.
Challenges remain, she concedes: “We need more
competitions at the highest levels. The lack [of] and very
minimal resources that we work with is always a challenge.
We always tend to look overseas for players as well. We are
also small in terms of population and there are also other
sports, a lot of choices now for the youth to choose from.”
Yet she remains optimistic, outlining Cricket Samoa’s plans
for the future.
“We’re working on expanding our youth development
programs, particularly with our Under 19s, and gearing them
[up] for more international competitions. There’s a focus
on strengthening our high-performance program to ensure
that our national teams are competitive in all formats of the
game. We’re also looking to enhance our infrastructure and
facilities for training and hosting international matches. These
Taalili Iosefo of the Samoa women’s team attempts to hit a boundary. initiatives will help us continue to grow the sport and bring
Photos: Supplied
more success to Samoa,” she said.

38 Islands Business, November 2024