Over 2,000 athletes, officials signed up for Mini Games

The newly-built Convention Centre will be the Athletes Center and Dining Hall for the 2017 Pacific Mini Games that will be held in Vanuatu in December. (Vanuatu Mini Games Photo)

More than 2,000 athletes and officials have registered for the 2017 Pacific Mini Games.

The latest numbers were reported during the Chef De Mission Meeting in Port Vila, Vanuatu last Aug. 18 and of these figure, 1,665 are athletes. Other athletes and officials who have yet to sign up for the Mini Games, that will run from Dec. 4 to 15, have until Oct. 20 to register. Over 3,000 are expected to participate in the Mini Games that will feature 14 sports and 24 nations, including New Zealand and Australia, which will compete in selected events.

Meanwhile, organizers of the Mini Games have also announced the schools designated to house athletes and officials from the participating countries. The CNMI, along with Tuvalu, Palau, Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and Tokelau will be billeted at Anabrou School. The host, Wallis & Futuna, New Zealand, and Norfolk Island will stay at Fresh-wota School, while Lycee School is assigned to New Caledonia, Solomon Islands, Niue and Samoa. Papua New Guinea, Tahiti, American Samoa, and Guam will be quartered at National Institute of Technology, while Fiji, Cook Islands, Tonga, Australia, Nauru, and Kiribati will be at Central School.

The newly-built Convention Centre will be the Athletes Center and Dining Hall, taking care of the needs of the athletes, VIPs, and officials.

Van2017 CEO Clint Flood and Jean Francois Metmetsan, executive officer of the Prime Minister’s Office, last week signed an agreement to allocate access to the Convention Centre. The facility also houses the Van2017 official merchandiser shop, internet services and internet cafe, foreign currency exchange booth, a coffee shop, beverage vending machines, a convenience shop, and a recreational area with a pool table, foosball (babyfoot) game, video games and movies showing once daily in the main auditorium. Technical meetings, press conferences, pastoral care services, and weighing-in of boxers daily before their bouts will be held too at the Convention Centre, while its exterior compound will be the main transport parking mall for most of the vehicles that will be used for the Mini Games. The centre will be available for operations beginning on Nov. 18 and until Dec. 21.