Pasifika tournament a success

On Saturday, Marlborough said “Kia Ora, Bula Vinaka, Talofa Lava and Malo e lelei” to a new event on the region’s sporting calendar when the inaugural Marlborough Pasifika Sevens was staged at Marlborough Boys’ College.

Organiser Charlie Tikotikoca said the event had been in the pipeline for the last two years but, unfortunately due to Covid 19, could not be staged. This year it did go ahead, and proved a great success.

Eight sides took part - three from Marlborough, two from Nelson, plus one from Christchurch, South Canterbury and Mid Canterbury.

Teams played a series of pool matches to decide placings for the quarterfinals, followed by semifinals, a third/fourth play-off and culminating in a grand final.

The final was won by a slick Mid Canterbury combination, who defeated second-placed South Canterbury 33-19.

The third/fourth play-off, between the beaten semifinalists, was won 15-12 by Breakthrough Canterbury over Waitohi Rangers.

Matches were played on the MBC front field, with a selection of delicious food available on the side of the playing area, plus tents catering for measles immunisation and Census 2023 promotion.

The tournament was organised and run by Nav Pasifika Marlborough, a Pasifika community group focussed on growing Pasifika wellbeing through participation in sports.

They were supported by the Nelson Tasman Pacific Trust, Stats New Zealand, Marlborough Fijian Community, Marlborough Tongan Community and the Blenheim Samoan Community.

Charlie was thrilled with how the tournament came together. “As the organizers, we were very grateful for the success of putting together an event that has managed to bring together such a large amount of Pasifika people in Marlborough. We've been told that it has never happened before but we're just very grateful that through sports we're uniting our communities.

“We have a vision of creating a South Island Pasifika Sevens series and we're very thankful, to the teams that come from out of town who share the same vision and helped support us get this tournament of the ground. It was an awesome outcome.

“Massive thanks to Stats NZ for their assistance and support … promoting Pasifika participation in the census 2023, plus Tasman Nelson Pasifika Community Trust for their support and the Te Piki Oranga team from Nelson for promoting Vaccination against Measles at the event. It was great to see a lot of people utilize their services.

“Also, thanks to Marlborough Boys’ College for providing us with their ground and facilities, our incredible Tasman referees plus all the teams, supporters and communities that helped make this tournament a success,” he added.