Sports activity in Papua is increasing after successfully holding the National Sports Week in 2021. The construction of various facilities for all the sports being contested has increasingly made the Papuan people feel grateful for such a sporting event. After National Sports Week is over, sports facilities equipped with the latest technology according to national standards can be used by all Papuan people to exercise.
Seeing representative athletes from each province in Papua, including Central Papua Province, can of course trigger the enthusiasm of young athletes to continue to develop. They have the desire to be able to represent Central Papua in similar sporting events or even represent the Republic of Indonesia. This includes athletes who are still young and in elementary school. For example, Pamela Zonggonau was amazed by the swimmers’ actions at the National Sports Week in 2021. Pamela became increasingly active in practicing swimming and started taking part in various competitions at various levels.
Pamela’s talent is not an ordinary talent. He is not yet 10 years old, but the number of achievements he has achieved is greater than his age. The competition he took part in initially was to compete with fellow members of the Swimming Club where he belonged. Then, Pamela started taking part in swimming competitions at regional level. His best achievement and at the same time his best achievement is the championship title he won in 2024. Pamela took part in a swimming competition called PARI Sakti Diving International. The competition was held in Jakarta and is an international level competition. The participants were diverse, not only from Indonesia, but from other countries such as Malaysia and Saudi Arabia.
Pamela succeeded in proving her talent, supported by the results of her hard work practicing swimming all this time. Pamela successfully won the championship title. The details are one gold medal, one silver medal and one bronze medal. These three medals were Pamela’s best score in an international competition, which was the first international competition she participated in. Pamela as a debutant managed to win the championship.
Pamela’s desire is to continue training and also compete in various competitions so she can gain experience and titles. Pamela’s parents support all activities that can support Pamela’s talent in swimming. Her parents have great hopes for the Central Papua Provincial Government to provide assistance to Pamela so she can improve her skills and hone her swimming talent. Moreover, Pamela dreams of becoming a representative from Central Papua Province competing in the National Sports Week event in the future. However, Pamela, who was born in Central Papua, feels that an athlete’s greatest pride is when he can defend his homeland. This desire became even more passionate when Pamela watched her seniors in action at the National Sports Week three years ago.
