"My Government desires to see that all sporting disciplines in our country be further developed and enhanced to make sure sportsmen and women are more competitive at the Regional and even International competitions in the future."

These were the words of Hon. James Tora, Minister of Home Affairs, during the awards night of the Honiara Netball Association league 2008 last Saturday.

Mr. Tora told the gathering that his ministry through the national sports council has prioritized the upgrading and expansion of the current netball courts at Lawson Tama and others throughout Honiara to accommodate for international competitions in the future.

Hon. Tora stated that although the project is quite complex, his government would make sure that it would be completed before 2015 for the possible hosting of the South Pacific Games (SPG) by Solomon Islands.

Mr. Tora encouraged those responsible for different sporting bodies in the country to work together to improve and redirect focus to uplift the standard of sports in Solomon Islands.

He explained that the lack of proper sporting facilities, lack of coherent and cohesive approach in sport administration by different federations and the lack of sufficient funds as well as non compliance with laws governing sports development are some of the hurdles the country should overcome if it were to improve.

The Home Affairs Minister also acknowledged the Honiara Netball Association as being in a better position than those in the Provinces, by having an advantage to build a network to improve the standard of netball.

He concluded by encouraging the Netball executive members to continue to make the most of the opportunities they have to develop netball and its administration so it could become a role model for other sporting associations.