Community Sports Takes Off in Yaren, Nauru

The Epon Keramen community sport program is making waves in the small Pacific nation of Nauru, with a women’s basketball competition in Yaren that had just under half the women in the whole community participating.

Epon Keramen
Epon Keramen (EK), which translates to ‘people gather to play games’, is a program specially designed for Nauru to increase the opportunities for communities to be active and involved in sport.

EK coordinator for Yaren Godwyn Debao said that the program has been very successful, providing the women of the community with the chance to play group sport for the first time in years: ‘I’m very proud of the women’s basketball competition because of the huge turnout and the overall spirit of the women.’

Community member Claudia Edwards was thrilled with the competition:
"I really want to play — it has been a long time since I played basketball. This was the first time in many years a tournament was organised for our community."

Community ownership
Yaren’s EK program is working so well because Godwyn, community leaders Angela Agigo, Virgita Roland and the other organisers listened closely to the women of the community and responded to their needs. This process of consultation led to the provision of childminding and transport to games, in addition to coaches, officials and organised teams. Together, these elements have produced an easy-to-access and quality sport experience that provides ongoing motivation for the women of Yaren to get together and enjoy sport.

Training
At the same time as organising regular sport for women, EK has provided members of the Yaren community with the opportunity to become community sport leaders and gain sport-specific training.

In the future
The Yaren EK organisers are currently implementing a calendar of activities to keep the men and young people as well as the women of Yaren playing throughout the year, and there has already been plenty of positive feedback from the participants.

The neighbouring Nauru community of Denig have been hearing about the positive outcomes in Yaren and are also keen to start an EK community sport program in their community.

About the Australian Sports Outreach Program
Epon Keramen is part of the Australian Sports Outreach Program, which is managed by the Australian Sports Commission’s International Relations program. The Australian Sports Outreach Program aims to build the capacity of individuals and organisations to provide quality, participation-based sport programs in communities in Nauru, Fiji, Kiribati, Samoa and Vanuatu.

[This article has been edited by the Operating Team]