Celebrating International Day of Sport for Development and Peace, what could be a better topic than the successful women in our sport?
Brenda Ribauw and Trienssa Lanja Fritz are two role models of women in sports for the Oceania area. Both are holding positions within the Nauru Athletics Association and are dedicated to develop the sport of Athletics in their country.
Brenda Waidubu is currently the Second Vice President of the Nauru Athletics Association. She has been involved in athletics for years.
Brenda is one of the driving forces at NAA and often initiates activities, such as community runs and the Constitution Day events. Over the past 12 months she has worked closely with the Department of Public Health in order to organize activities together and support each other. Brenda has a passion for Kids Athletics, she has originally introduced it in Nauru and is continuing to promote it in schools. Due to her committed work Brenda was selected to participate in the Pacific Women’s Sports Leadership Program for which she traveled to a 5-day seminar in Papua New Guinea. The seminar brought women in sports together from many Pacific Islands and gave them the opportunity to further developed their abilities and self-confidence as significant individuals in their sport.
Lanja used to compete as a high performance sprinter for Nauru on a national and international level. She moved to Cairns in July 2015 to study and joined the Cairns Athletics Club training professionally on a regular basis. She has represented Nauru in the Pacific School Games in Canberra in 2008, the Oceania Championships in Gold Coast 2009, Cook Islands 2014, and Cairns 2015. She is the gold medallist in the 100m sprint in the Micronesia Championship in 2014, silver medallist in 100m in the Coral Coast Games, Cairns.
Lanja got married to a Samoan athlete, Siologa Viliamu Sepa and had a son last year in August. They now live together in Nauru. When NAA partnered with OAA in the PSP program Lanja was identified as a Development Officer in October 2016. She participated successfully in a CECS Level I Lecturer Course and is currently conducting a coaching course with Albert Miller on Nauru Island. Lanja has shown great commitment and dedication to her National Federation and we are looking forward to continue the great work in Nauru.
#idsdp #idsdp2017 #sportsdiplomacy #dfat
