NCD-Central Athletics staged Inaugural Open Championships

The National Capital District and Central Province Athletics Association held a two-day Open Championships from 25-26 October 2025, at the famous Sir John Guise Stadium in Port Moresby. 

The two-day championships showcased emerging talents strutting their stuff and competing in various track and field events, featuring clubs in the Nation’s Capital and Central, including an outside club from the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, representing Arawa Secondary School.

A total of 13 clubs were initially scheduled to participate in the first-ever NCD-Central Athletics Championships, but three clubs pulled out due to unforeseen circumstances, and only 11 teams competed in the two-day event.

The Chair of the event John Gitiri was impressed with the talents on display, saying: “We had a good number of kids - new kids from different schools in NCD and Central, including Arawa. We had a good mixture of talents who competed well.”

Mr. Gitiri mentioned that though he was happy to see the kids entertain and showcase their skills, he wanted more raw talents from outside provinces to participate in the event next year and compete against the best in NCD. 

“Arawa is the only team from Bougainville participating in the two-day event. The ones winning the races are Port Moresby-based, so we want kids from outside to come and challenge them. Next year, we are hoping that more outside teams will take part, especially from Central,” he said. 

Gitiri added that the more the number of outside teams participating in such championships, the better it will be for the selectors to choose the best athletes to compete in the national championships.

Meanwhile, the cream of the crop will be selected in different disciplines to participate in the upcoming National Athletics Championships slated for December this year at the National Sports Institute (NSI) in Goroka, Eastern Highlands Province.