The annual Southern Highlands Provincial 9s Tournament will kick off later this month at Momei Oval in Mendi with teams from Momase, Highlands and Southern Regions taking part to win K30, 000 prize money.
The men’s winner will receive K20, 000 while for the women, its K10, 000 prize money. This tournament will again be used as a platform to showcase local talents.
According to the Tournament Media Coordinator Terence Kapipi, they started the first SHP 9s tournament in 2019 with teams from Southern Highlands and Hela with the support from Southern Highlands Provincial Government as the main backer of the tournament.
“It started small, but we managed to end it successfully with Cane Constructions Wakwak Bulldogs winning the cup final, in the second tournament in 2020, 20 male teams and 4 females’ teams took part. This time the teams came from all over PNG.”
He added that it’s been very hard especially in Mendi with all the social problems, but the youths have fully accepted the tournament and they have made it easy.
The tournament is also being used to bring back normalcy to Mendi town after the recent election violence and mayhem.