To relieve students from academic stress for the semester as well as encourage relationships between the tertiary institutions in Port Moresby are the reasons for hosting the UPNG pre-season soccer tournament which started over the weekend.
This was expressed by the UPNG Soccer Association President Clyde Mbai, a final year student of the University of Papua New Guinea.
“It is all about connections, building relationships between universities and players alike”, Mbai explained.
The pre-season saw 26 teams from several tertiary institutions having 20 teams for the males’ division and 6 teams for the females’ division.
Mbai said pre-season will lead up to the annual Unity Games and the proper-season that will take place after the Unity Games and will end around September so that students have time to prepare for their exams in October this year.
A point the president stressed is the Association’s need for sponsors of winning prizes for the tournament.
He mentioned that the UPNG through its Student Representative Council and the Sports and Recreation Office supports the games.
Apart from UPNG, the Pacific Adventist University, Port Moresby Technical College, Don Bosco Technical Institution and the Institute of Business Studies University are some of the institutions taking part in the competition.
