The RESULTS project – an acronym that stands for recreation, exercise, soccer, you, lose, trim and slim – is spearheaded by the American Samoa Government through its Department of Youth and Women’s Affairs (DYWA) and is being made possible thanks to funds provided by OFC.
The initiative is a result of the inaugural Pacific Youth and Sports Conference, hosted by OFC in Auckland last March, which brought together around 1000 young people from across the Oceania region to share ideas and find solutions to youth-related issues with a specific focus on sport.
Following the productive meeting, an awards ceremony was held where funding grants of more than US $100,000 were awarded to the best action plans drawn up during the week. The American Samoa delegation was led by DYWA deputy director Pa’u Roy Ausage and was given US $20,000 to put into practice RESULTS, a project that aims to recruit 132 youths between the ages of 16 and 25 to engage in recreational football one hour per day, twice a week, for 16 weeks.
On the launching of the project, a registered nurse will record weight, glucose and hypertension levels of all the participants and their progress will be monitored. After the 16 weeks is completed, a new group of participants will be taken on while the previous intake moves on to a different project for weight loss and health maintenance.
Eight church groups have signed up for the first phase, which will be held on Mondays and Tuesdays over the coming weeks.
“What we hope to achieve is a healthy future for American Samoa’s young generation and for all the youth to be actively involved on the field playing sports together,” DYWA director Leiataua Leuga Turner says. “We also see this programme helping to decrease diabetes and hypertension problems.”
Football Federation American Samoa (FFAS) President Iuli Alex Godinet attended the Pacific Youth and Sports Conference and is welcoming the opportunity to work with another government agency. He is fully supportive of the initiative, which kicks off this week at Kananafou Theological Seminary.
“FFAS has a very positive relationship with the government and we are very proud to be working together with another department, that of Youth and Women’s Affairs,” he says. “I look forward to our two organisations working together along with several other RESULTS partners to take on the issue of obesity amongst our youth.”
Members of the business community getting behind the venture include Panamex Pacific Inc., All Stars Signs, Samoa News and several local radio stations. CCCAS Kananafou and the First Lady’s Ta’ita’itama are also partners.
The government agencies who have signed on with RESULTS are ASCC Land Grant, the Department of Education, Department of Health, Department of Public Safety, and the Nursing and Diabetes Division.
For more on American Samoa football go to www.ffas.as