In a small but significant ceremony held on Tuesday, January 21st, 2025, at the University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG) Drill Hall, the acting Registrar, Roboam Kakap and his staff presented two sets of jerseys (A-Grade & B-Grade) to the University Youngsters Club.
The club was established in 2022 by the late Joel Kila and has been taking part in the Port Moresby North-West Rugby League competition, as well as participating in the Gerehu Rugby League (GRL) off-season competition.
The bulk of the players comprises UPNG staff’s children, who reside at Fort Banner, within the university’s campus. The kids have been involved in bad activities and causing nuisance in the neighborhood for so many years.
As a result of that, the late Kila and his team mobilized the boys and founded the club in 2022, purposely to address the social issues affecting the young men within the Fort Banner community.
After the passing of club founder Kila, Anthony Korwa and the club president, Rodrick Gore took over the mantle to continue the legacy of the deceased and lift the standard of the club.
With no support from the business houses or anyone else, the club had used their own resources in the last three years to compete in the POM North-West competition and GRL off-season competition, respectively.
UPNG, through the office of the registrar, had struck a deal with the youths to cut grasses and look after the school properties around the campus by way of compensating the boys with cash and a set of uniforms.
The office of the acting registrar has honored its commitment by presenting the two sets of jerseys to the Uni Youngsters, which was the first of its kind within the Fort Banner community.
Acting registrar Roboam Kakap said UPNG, through his office, were happy to assist the Youngsters with the new jerseys, encouraging the players to discipline themselves, show good sportsmanship, and become good ambassadors of their community.
The team manager of Uni Youngsters, Anthony Korwa, expressed the team’s deepest gratitude and appreciation to the acting registrar and UPNG for supporting the club with the new sets of jerseys for both A-Grade and B-Grade.
“From the bottom of our hearts, we would like to thank the acting registrar and his staff, including UPNG for their support in providing these two sets of uniforms. We are speechless and couldn’t thank them enough for their timely support,” Korwa said.
“When we entered the POM North-West competition and Gerehu Rugby League off-season, we never had proper uniforms. We didn’t have a foundation at all - no management or structure, but we utilized whatever resources we had to participate in these two competitions.
“This is a timely support and the players proved to myself and Rodrick by showing the energy and positive mindset, driving them to give their best and representing our community with pride and honor.”
With these sets of new jerseys, the Uni Youngsters are stoked and look forward to having a stronger and better 2025 season in the POM North-West competition and GRL off-season competition.
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