On Saturday, December 16, 2024, the Palau Weightlifting Federation (PWF) invited athletes from Athletics and Beach Volleyball to attend an outreach event held at the Palau Civic Center. This event focused on educating athletes about healthy lifestyles and physical, mental, and spiritual well-being.
The event was attended by a diverse group of individuals/athletes who were eager to learn about the benefits of a healthy lifestyle and gain practical tips on how to improve their physical, mental, and spiritual health. The speakers at the event were experts in their fields and provided valuable insights on topics such as mental health and self-care, sports careers and youth development, importance of warming up and recovery, healthy eating and nutrition. The speakers were – Ms. Ribka Kintaro (mental health advocate), Mr. Sylvester Alonz (Chief, Division of Youth and Career Development), Miss Dirngulbai Misech (Physiologist), Miss FUNAKI Norie (nutritionist, Palau NCD Unit), and Mr. Saki Naivana (coach and motivational speaker).
Ms. Ribka Kintaro shared the importance of having a balanced life in and outside of sports and how all of it affects our mental health. Mr. Sylvester Alonz gave a talk on youth development and how sports can be beneficial to young Palauans and connecting sports to careers. Mr. Alonz is a great resource for young athletes of Palau and offers his expertise and office to helping with the development of Palauan youths! Miss Dirngulbai Misech, a young Palauan Physiologist, shared her expertise and knowledge on the importance of recovery after intense trainings. Miss Misech was especially engaging with the participants as she is also an athlete and can relate to the struggles of an athlete in terms of injury prevention and ensuring athletes take care of their bodies by performing pre and post-training stretches and recovery methods such as massages and ice baths. Miss Norie FUNAKI gave a presentation on the importance of eating a healthy and balanced meal. As an athlete it is crucial to intake the proper amounts of each nutrients to fuel our bodies to sustain it during training and resting days. Finally, Mr. Saki Naivana gave a very moving and inspiring speech to the athletes. His words flowed through each and every athlete, motivating them to train harder, be more disciplined, and strive to build each other up into the future. With the wise words of Saki – “My future is not ahead of me, it is trapped within me” – the participating athletes are reminded of their own greatness and these words reignited the flame within each and every athlete to continue to pursue their path of greatness.
The PWF would like to extend its deepest gratitude to all these speakers for taking their time to speak to the young Palauan athletes, educating them on leading a balanced life – in school, work, sports, as well as maintaining healthy relationships with family and friends. The PWF would also like to thank the Republic of China-Taiwan – Palau Small Grants Program as the funding mechanism for the Federation’s activities.
The PWF plans to continue its outreach efforts and hopes to inspire even more athletes to lead healthy and fulfilling lives.