College Updates: Week 1 - Term 2

Salutation

Greetings your Eminence and fellow Apifo'ou Family! May I take this opportunity to extend to you all the Apifo'ou Family a belated Happy Feast Day yesterday! The Feast Day of St. Peter Chanel marked the 158th Anniversary of the college.

Admin Briefs

The whole of this week was dedicated to the Inter-Collegiate Athletic Meet. This year marked the 96th anniversary of these games. The games were wrapped up yesterday. Despite the patches of rain throughout the last two days, they didn't seem to mar the wonderful atmosphere of the annual event. Simply put, the environment at the Teufaiva Stadium was electric!

As the dusts settled after the four-day event, it was Liahona High School who scooped the highest Medal Tally with an overall tally of 157. Apifo'ou College was second with 153 medals. Frankly, this was a spectacular achievement from our athletes considering the fact that we didn't have an Inter-House Sports. We went by volunteers and only those with blue-colored hearts came forward to represent the college! There were other unfortunate incidents that occurred throughout the events. A few of our Gold medal winners were either disqualified or deliberately awarded to other athletes by the officials. I always reminded our coaches and athletes regarding the Marist Motto in sports, "Be gracious in defeat and humble in victory!" We congratulate the 93 volunteer athletes who all became victorious due to the hard-work and discipline. Indeed, this lays a solid foundation for the rest of the activities for this year especially our strive for excellence in the academic field.

Seen above and below is our Golden Boy, Lolesio Sailosi, who won the Blue Ribbon event, the fastest sprinter in the 100 m. He lost out in the 200 m to Liahona but I whispered to him during the medal presentation, make sure you beat them in 100 m. And he did just that!

Seen below is the Athletic Squad with the coaching Team and supporters.

These two athletes have never won medals in previous years! Dundee Halaholo, former Head Prefect won Gold in the Open Boys Shot Put. His fellow thrower and good friend, Tapu, won bronze in the same event. Well done boys!

Seen above and below are the stars in the Open Grade for the boys and girls, Sione Veamatahau and Yantama Atoa.

The future of sports in 'Apifo'ou is promising as we have young and rising stars coming up. One of our rising stars was grabbed by 'Atele this year, Sefo Mailangi winning the 200 m finals. Perhaps he was just imitating his namesake!

The star for the senior girls team, Siuti, did very well in all her events. She'll still be leading the senior grade next year.

Seen below are two of our coaches receiving their medals in the Nationals competition. Well done 'Ana and Anne Marie!

It's always a fulfilling sentiment presenting the medals to our students. Those precious memories will linger for a very long time.

Seen above and below are the Takuilau and 'Apifo'ou Athletic Squads during the final Marching Parade. Mighty congrats to both Teams!

The Principal took advantage of the final march to touch up on their Cadet Skills! Seen below is one of the those unique moments thanking the athletes.

Seen above and below are the two Squads of Takuilau and 'Apifo'ou exchanging congratulations after the games. The smiling face of Sr. Tina says it all!

Donation from Ex-Students

We're indeed grateful to our ex-students both at home and abroad who have been very generous with their support. These Alumni Groups came in this week to show their support to the Athletic Squad. Seen below are the die-hard Hala Fatima group, malo fau e 'ofa.

Seen above is the alumni group of Fr. Viliami Kiola presenting their cash donation to the college. And below are the Mileniume Lalo Kasia Ta'e'iloa 2000.

Seen above are the athletes receiving the donation from Ma'ata Fakava, representing St. Joseph's Business College. Seen below is Tolisi presenting their donation on behalf of the Huelo Koula 'o e Lalo Kasia.

Volunteer Project Container

This week the 20 ft container from Melbourne arrived at the college. This project was coordinated by our Volunteer Coordinators, 'Unaloto & Fonomanu Lolohea. We sent a recorded video of the students making appeals for help after cyclone Gita. The Parish of Our Lady Help of Christians plus the Rotary Club at Narre Warren, Victoria orchestrated the collection of various items: text books, furniture, computers, sporting gears, Whiteboards, etc. We have sent pictures and official letters of acknowledgment to Fr. Brendan Hogan and to the President of the Rotary Club, thanking them for this tremendous act of charity.

Seen above & below are the athletes helping out with unloading of the container.

Conclusion

May I extend to you all our deepest gratitude for your continuous prayers and support for the college. Without your support we wouldn't have been able to accomplish these wonderful outcomes so far this year.

We'll offer up our Mass of Thanksgiving this Sunday at the college with the athletes and their families, followed by a shared lunch to mark the successful completion of their efforts on behalf of the college.

Viva AFC!

Ekuasi