SHERATON TO SHERATON REGATTA AND BEYOND

Marina Grey, the late Laauli Alan Grey wife: She was the guest speaker of the event and the winning team of the S2S 2021 Alo Paopao(Senior)

Monday 16 August 2021: It has been a huge couple of weeks for the Alo Paopao Festival and we can finally fill you in on all the events.

THE S2S REGATTA

The Sheraton to Sheraton (or S2S) V6 Regatta was conducted on Saturday 8 August. A total of 6 boats and teams competed in the Open Mens (4 teams) and Relay (2 teams) categories.

The race was held as a tribute to the memory of the late Lauuli Alan Grey and sought to recognise his contribution to sport and in particular water sport in Samoa. Laauli is fondly remembered for his contribution to sports and development in Samoa and the organisers were grateful for the family in allowing us to dedicate this event in his name.

After the 34 km race the winners of the Open Mens event were:

1st. Alo Paopao

2nd. Nafanua Kalapu Alo Paopao (Outrigger club)

3rd. Laumei Outrigger Canoe CLUB #1

4th. Laumei Outrigger Canoe CLUB #2

In the Relay event the results were:

1st. Alopaopao Juniors

2nd. Nafanua Kalapu Alopaopao

Karl Toomalatai, aged just 17 years was the youngest paddler in the competition. He has been paddling for Alopaopao in the Senior division but this was his first time paddling in a long distance event. He said that, "It wasn’t easy for me to paddle in the senior division and it was a hard challenge because I’ve never compete over this kind of distance before"

Karl Toomalatai, 17 years old paddler he has been paddling for the Alo Paopao in the senior division.

The winning team, Alopaopao is the new crew on the block and did remarkably well to take first place honours in their first major event. The team was formed by Sua Jay Ah Fook just 6 months ago following the establishment of the Alopaopao Academy. This was when their training started and it was a tremendous achievement for new comers and especially for the crew of young kids.

The paddling conditions for Saturday’s were perfect with clear skies and a cool breeze off the water.

There were no mishaps, collisions or boats overturning. Safety first always! The only disaster of the day was one of the Eyespy crew lost his footing while exiting the boat and managed to drown 3 mobile phones.

The Regatta was a huge event and the organisers wish to thank the generous support of its sponsors.

These include PFL, VODAFONE SAMOA, VAILIMA BREWERIES, SHERATON HOTEL, ISLAND ROCK and Eyespy Radio. The organisers send special thanks to parents and all the supporters, families and friends who supported not only their teams but the regatta as a whole.

At the conclusion of the race, all teams, support crew and organisers gathered at Sheraton at Mulifanua for the prizegiving. Marina Grey gave a keynote address and thanked the organisers for the event and recognition of the work by her late husband. Marina shared the passion of her husband to sports in Samoa and watersports.

THE ALOPAOPAO FOUNDATION

This is the 4 th year in which the Regatta has been held. Although he has organised previous events, Sua Jay Ah Fook established the Alopaopao Academy earlier this year with the aim of training young kids about survival in the sea.

The aim of this program is to:

• Educate and enhance the knowledge of the oceans in young people of Samoa highlighting our connection to, and the importance of, our oceans;

• Provide life saving understanding of water safety, including awareness of tides and currents as well as understanding rips and survival techniques in the water;

• Teach how to interact safely on the oceans and enjoy the water;

• Gain confidence in, on and around water not only the ocean but our lakes and rivers;

• Learn life skills which may save not only your own life but maybe others and skills which can be passed on to future generations Living on an island, surrounded by oceans, means that our people have a cultural identity shaped by our connection to the oceans and its bountiful resources. This includes not only as a source of food but also in terms of recreation.

However, a growing number of Pacific people have needlessly lost their lives, both in Samoa and abroad, due to a lack of understanding of water safety.

The Alo Paopao Academy was born out of a desire to provide a sustainable education program for our youth to appreciate our oceans and foster a sense of confidence, through sport, to be safe on the water.

The S2S Regatta director susuga Su’a Jay Ah Fook and his wife Tutasi Schuster during the prize giving

Its founder, Sua Jay Ah Fook has more than 30 years’ experience in outrigging in Samoa. He said “We have seen the benefits this sport has brought to the youth. However, the number of young people over the years has declined. The Academy program is a sustainable progression plan for youth development in outrigging, and offers more than just training and competition - it provides education on water safety which will allow the young people of the program to use at any time they are in or around water for recreation or otherwise. They are the future and if we don’t pass this on to our children, our culture will die with us."

He added, "We believe that the Alopaopao Academy also offers an opportunity to build self-development in Villages to appreciate our natural waters, and gain the knowledge to enjoy the oceans, the resources the oceans offer, and to protect the oceans through better understanding of how we can achieve that."

THE ACADMEY’S SOCIAL CONSCIENCE

There were a number of themes associated with the Alopaopao Regatta. As well as recognising the great contribution by Lauuli Alan Grey and promoting water safety and confidence, the event also has a social and community focus. Some of the organisers and supporters wore orange t-shirts to further raise awareness and support the need to end violence towards women and girls.

The Eyepsy Network continues to support and promote this theme through various programs. In addition, other supporters wore purple t-shirts. This colour was chosen as a combination of the colour red (symbolic of the FAST Party) and blue (representing the HRPP). The message was to promote social harmony and unity now that Samoa has moved past recent political crises.

SO WHAT’S NEXT : TEUILA BUSINESS HOUSE CHALLENGE – ARE YOU UP FOR IT?

Plans are well underway for our next major event. This will be the Business House Challenge to be held on Saturday 4 September as part of the annual Teuila Festival. This a “team” focussed event and again aligns with the Alopaopao Academy’s mandate of promoting water safety through sport and interaction.

This upcoming challenge is an opportunity for businesses, friends and colleagues to come together, socialise and have some fun time on the water and to celebrate our Teuila Festival. As well as team paddling events there will also be individual sprint races all to be held in front of the Eyespy Studio at Matauutu on Apia Harbour.

This year the event is shaping up to be bigger than ever and we are aiming for a total of 24 team/ slots from various local business houses, agencies and government departments to register and participate.

Again the organisers are grateful to our kind sponsors PFL, Sheraton Hotel, Island Rock, Vailima Breweries and Vodafone for their generous and ongoing support for these community sporting events.

Faafetai tele lava.

This will be a fun day for all and we welcome further teams to register and supporters to come along and share the spirit.

Further details can be found on the Eyespy 87.5 Facebook page, email eyespyradio@gmail.com or call us on 24434.

Play safe Samoa!