The Marist St. Joseph’s Sports Club Inc. will today launch the 36 Marist St. Joseph’s International
7s Tournament at the Faleata Golf Course.
The country’s Premier 7s Tournament will see its return to the 16 men’s team format and six
women’s teams.
“The design of this year’s tournament is based on the feedbacks from our stakeholders based on
their experiences from last year’s tournament,” newly appointed Tournament Director,

Taupau Alex Mikaele – Treasurer (+685)7105656 / 7298072 | Tuimulivai Fritz Kasimani – Secretary (+685)7574114
Tolumaanave Mathew Iakopo said. “The aim is to ensure that the quality of the tournament is
maintained at the highest level both on the field and off it.”
Under the Theme “THE GREEN JOURNEY CONTINUES” Toluma’anave said this year’s
tournament will pay homage to the pioneers of the Club who have paved the way for this tournament
since its inception 36 years ago.
“The Club is going through some challenges but every year brings new challenges which helps with
our progression”.
This year will be the first time the Club will host its famous sevens tournament away from its Lotopa
home.

“As I said we’re on a new path moving forward and we take this opportunity to acknowledge the
Marist Brothers for their support over the last 35 years. They have been the pillars of our journey and
will continue to do so for the next many years.
Since 2017, the Marist St. Joseph’s Sports Club Inc. innovatively introduced to its annual activities the
Marist Sports Week, which later transformed into the Marist Sports Season which features other sports
tournaments such as boxing, touch rugby, rugby league, netball and the Marist St. Joseph’s 7s.
The new approach took into account the reality that rugby is no longer the only sport that offers
opportunities for our young sports people, both males and females, and our sports administrators to
fulfill their sporting dreams.

“The bigger picture is what can the Marist St. Joseph’s Sports Club Inc. do at the ground level to
contribute to the sports at the national level,” Club President Lemalu Nonu John Lemisio said.
“We like to think that through our platform we have contributed to the success of our teams in the
recent Pacific games seeing a lot of our athletes and management teams who were part of the teams
that won medals at the Games.

“We always take pride in our Marist son Ato who will be representing Samoa at the Olympics for the
second time. We have one of the youngest netballers in Syonara getting picked for our national netball
team.
“We also have a number of our sporing officials leading teams as coaches and managers. That is the
measure we use to measure ourselves in what we do through our sports season.”

For more information contact are committee members:
Lemalu Lefaoseu Nonu John Lemisio – President (+685)7731363
Faumuina Polly Godinet-Crichton– Vice President (+685)7771665

Taupau Alex Mikaele – Treasurer (+685)7105656 / 7298072 | Tuimulivai Fritz Kasimani – Secretary (+685)7574114
The 36 Marist St. Joseph’s 7s will be held at the Apia Park Stadium on the 21 and 22 of June 2024.
The top eight teams from last year’s tournament will automatically qualifies to the top seeds for the
pools.
The remaining eight spots will be considered based on a screening process by the organising
committee.
The main prize money for the men’s competition (Tupua Fred Wetzell Cup) will
be SAT15,000 and SAT 3,000 for the women’s competition (Cynthia Wetzell Cup). Registration for
men’s teams is SAT1,500 and $500 for women’s teams.
The second exhibition match featuring the Samoa Deaf Association Rugby team will also take center
stage during the tournament.