Samoa Departs for Vanuatu

The Samoa 'Nafanua Women's Cricket Team has departed Apia and are on route for Vanuatu for the 2012 Pepsi ICC East Asia-Pacific Women's Championship that begins next week in Port Vila.

The team will undertake a three day training camp in Auckland where they will train at the Eden Roskill High Performance Centre. Under the instruction of Head Coach Maia Lewis and Auckland Aces High Performance Manager Kaushik Patel, the Nafanua players will fine tune their skills before flying out to Vanuatu.

Nafanua Co-Captain Perelini Mulitalo said, "I am confident that we are ready to face this challenge in Vanuatu. After training with the selected squad for months, we have become close and I believe we have the experience and skill to bring the trophy home to Samoa."

On Tuesday 8th May the Nafanua met the Honourable Prime Minister Tuilaepa Lupesoliai Sailele Malielegaoi who offered the athletes kind words of encouragement.

"The tapuaiga mamala a le atunuu" (wishing for the team's success).

He also mentioned that cricket is well supported by the Samoa Government due to the future opportunities the sport provides for the youth of Samoa. He implored the athletes to be role models for future cricketers.

Samoa will open the Pepsi ICC East Asia-Pacific Championship with games on Monday against the two tournament favorites PNG in the morning and Japan in the afternoon. Coach Maia Lewis said "The Twenty 20 version of the game suits the Samoan style of play and with the two favorites up first we will get a good indication of where we are placed in the tournament."

To raise money for the tour to Vanuatu the Nafanua hosted a number of fundraisers including a Farewell Trivia Night On Monday at the exclusive Orator Hotel. The night was a great success and the team extends their thanks to those who made time to attend this event and generously support the athletes.

The Samoa International Cricket Association (SICA) acknowledges the great support from ANZ Bank, Orator Hotel, Special Occasion Supplies, Vailima, the AYAD program, Motor One, McDonald?s Family Restaurant, Samoa Spare Parts, Pacific Technologies and Marketing, and the parents of the selected females to represent Samoa for this tournament. SICA would also like to extend a big Fa?afetai and Fa?amalo to Hyundai, for their everyday support of the association and the Nafanua.

SICA wishes all the best to the Nafanua traveling squad. Triumphantly winning this tournament would see Samoa one step closer in their quest to participate in the 2014 Women?s World T20 event to be staged in Bangladesh.