Even though our Manu Samoa team lost they gave it their best shot which is all Patriotic Samoans want. For us working at SSFA it makes it all worthwhile when you see our team play, especially after a long week of hard work in trying to prep our Legendary Apia Park Stadium to international standards. This is to ensure our home team and our visitors are well looked after and are in an environment that provides the comforts in preparing them prior to the main game. This also contributes towards SSFA and Samoa Rugby Union trying to secure more fantastic international rugby games like the JAB’s vs Manu Samoa in the future.

Just to give you an insight on what it was like for the maintenance & projects team at SSFA in the lead up to the game….it honestly felt as if we were on that programme “Xtreme Makeover”. With SSFA’s limited budget and Samoa Rugby Unions requests on their wish list, we endeavoured to check off as much as possible by making it all happen right up to the day of the game. We slapped on a fresh coat of paint in all rooms, our marketing officer brought her sewing machine down and sewed curtains to be hung up in the rooms, added carpet, installed shower heads and knobs and added locks for security. It is now all secure, so that the public no longer have access to the changing rooms underneath the Main Grandstand. The other major requests were for the Goalposts and the In Goal areas to be extended, we managed to do both these, but also managed to strip back the paint and repaint these so that they were looking new.

All SSFA workers were so proud of the outcome and so they should be, with the high level of effort and Samoan ingenuity that went into making everything come together not just for SRU but also for any other sports codes that hire Apia Park Stadium for similar events such as the Toa Samoa vs BARLA Game. For SSFA it means working together with sports to make things happen whilst fulfilling our Mandate.

Check out the Samoa Sports Facilities Authority Website: www.ssfa.ws