Perth to host 5th Pacific School Games in 1996

6/12/94

Perth will host one of the biggest international sporting events to be held in Australia as a forerunner to the 2000 Olympics.

Education, Sport and Recreation Minister Norman Moore said today that the 5th Pacific School Games would be held in Perth in December 1996.

Mr Moore said it would be the biggest international competition held in the southern hemisphere for junior athletes and had the potential to involve students from every school in the State.

The event was expected to attract 3,000 young athletes from up to 28 countries in the Pacific region. The games were expected to showcase the elite young athletes of the region who would be in line to represent their countries in the Sydney Olympics.

Both the United States and China were among the countries invited to attend, so competition was guaranteed to be of a high international standard.  Each Australian State and Territory would be able to send its own team.

The Western Australian School Sports Association would administer the games for the Education Department and the competition would feature athletics, swimming, gymnastics and incorporate events for athletes with disabilities.

Mr Moore said the swimming and gymnastics competitions were to be held at the Claremont Superdrome and the track and field events at Perry Lakes.

"Not since the 1962 Empire and Commonwealth Games has Perth hosted an event as challenging as the 1996 Pacific School Games," he said.

"The event will present opportunities for cross-cultural links as well as sporting competition, and students will also be involved in a variety of educational and cultural events which will demonstrate the enormous depth of talent in our schools."

State sporting organisations have offered unqualified support for the event and will have representatives on the organising committee.  Independent school organisations will also be invited to participate.

"Community co-operation and assistance will be key ingredients of the games," Mr Moore said.

"A big attraction for the visiting athletes will be that students will be offered the opportunity to be billeted with Western Australian families."

Media contact:  Ross Storey  321 1444    222 9595