Humble commencement of Kone Sharks Rugby Union Club in Port Moresby

Former manager of Kone Sharks Rugby Union Club of Port Moresby Mr. Emmanuel Meraveka gives an account of what he tried to accomplish with his brief stint with the club at the grassroots level involving mostly unemployed youths.

When I was the manager of the Kone Sharks rugby club, we tried to promote social development through rugby.

Attached is some of our information - have a look at the social awareness and the club values section - we also have a website http://www.konesharks.com/ and our facebook group is http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=139116170328.

Hopefully more small scale efforts like this will lead to something big.

1. Introduction

This is the Kone United Rugby Football Club brief which contains various details and
information about this rugby club. The club brief was created to provide pertinent information to prospective rugby players, potential sponsors and other interested parties. The Kone United Rugby Football Club is also known as the Kone Sharks and will be referred to as the Kone Sharks throughout this club brief. This document will be updated annually to include the latest information about the club.

2. Mission Statement

“To provide an alternative avenue for the balanced development of youth through involvement in rugby”

Apart from striving to become a competitive rugby club in the Port Moresby Rugby Football Union (POMRFU) competition, the Kone Sharks are also dedicated to attracting the unemployed, disadvantaged and the youth of Konedobu and Port Moresby to be a part of its player base, coaching and administration staff.

We believe that the club offers a positive environment that allows those less fortunate and on the wrong path in life to grow and develop into well adjusted members of society. The club achieves this goal through building self esteem in individuals by not only allowing them to participate in the local rugby competition but also by involving them in off field activities, coaching and administration within the club.

This club also has a number of individuals associated with it who are already upstanding, decent and successful members of society and we believe these people will have a positive influence on the unemployed and disadvantaged members of the club and can also provide real and meaningful opportunities such as access to jobs, facilities and other members of the community which would be unavailable to them otherwise.

3. History

3.1 Club Formation

The Club was formed in mid 2002 and the first competition entered into was the Inaugural Wanderers Sevens Competition. Support to form the club came from Malara Maso and Sailosi Druma who were then with the Wanderers Club and the three founders of the club were Kevin Sova, Denzil Agi and Peter Waisime who coincidentally was also the first selector of the club when he chose the players that would make up the first ever Konedobu United RFUC team to participate in the Rugby Union fixture.

Presently the founders of the club have varying levels of involvement with the club due to other commitments and several of the players involved in the original team are still involved with the club showing the allure of the club and the positive culture in retaining and growing individuals.

The Konedobu suburb was originally the home of two off-season rugby league teams in the "Nambis Storms" and "Kone Sharks". There were many instances of clashes between players and supporters of both teams in the past, on and off the field, and the formation of the Konedobu United RFUC was to unite the two groups by putting forth a Rugby Union team to participate in a recognised town competition and in doing so maintaining the club goal of keeping the unemployed youths in the area occupied in sporting activities.

The Club later became more commonly known as "Kone Sharks" due to the fact that the first set of jerseys used in the 2003 POMRFU competition were those of the Kone Sharks off-season league Club. In the same year the Club voted in the current President Gabriel Anarea who has seen the Club grow rapidly in the space of three years.

3.2 Achievements and Milestones

􀂾 Edwin Noki from the Premier Grade is currently the incumbent Flyhalf for the PNG national team the PNG Pukpuks

􀂾 Premier Grade and Under 20’s qualifying for the Grand Final in their respective divisions

􀂾 3 out of the 4 grades finishing in the top 4 in 2008

􀂾 Continued sponsorship from Trukai in 2008

􀂾 Expansion of Social Awareness Program in 2008

􀂾 13 players played representative football

􀂾 Premier Grade qualifying for Semi Finals in 2007 after only 2 years in the top tier of
the competition

􀂾 Secured major sponsorship from Trukai Industries Limited

􀂾 Introduction of Social Awareness Program in 2007

􀂾 Production of website and monthly newsletters in 2006

􀂾 Under 19s winning 2006 Premiership and going through the season undefeated

􀂾 Getting players selected for various representative teams

􀂾 Initiating Player of the Year awards in 2006

􀂾 Setting up off-field activities with trips out of Moresby and team barbecues in 2006

􀂾 Initiating various activities such as sausage sizzles, T-shirt sales and fundraising dances
to generate revenue in 2005 to 2006

􀂾 Setting up an effective administrative body with duly elected executives including President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer by 2004

􀂾 Expanding from two grades (A & B) in 2004 to four grades (Premier, A, B & U19) in 2005

􀂾 Winning A Grade Premiership in 2004 and only losing one match throughout the season

4. Social Awareness

In 2008 the Kone Sharks rugby club expanded on the social awareness initiative of 2007
inviting more guest speakers and even participating in the TB walk for life organised by World Vision. The program is designed to educate, motivate and reinforce good values in the players of the club the majority of whom are unemployed youth from the Konedobu and surrounding areas. Below is a summary of the speakers who visited the club in 2008 and what they spoke

5. Contact Details

Konedobu United Rugby Football Union Club >P.O. Box 506
Konedobu, NCD
Email: denzil.agi@undp.org or emax131@hotmail.com
Website: http://www.kjdada.com.pg/kone_sharks

5.1 Bank Details

Account Name: Konedobu United Rugby Football Union Club
Accounr Number: 11659766
Bank: ANZ
Branch: Port Moresby