Coco Talanoa — Sports / Page 1

Over 500 Pacific Island ballers got together to play in the inaugural 1st Nations Polynesian Basketball Youth Tournament.

The tournament covered both Boys & Girls teams ranging from U13s through to U21s games with with 52 teams from all Pasifika communities - Cook Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Tokelau, Samoa, Fiji, Kiribati, Niue and more.

Check out some of the highlights in the video above.

The biggest boxing event to be held in Sydney for more than a decade was confirmed today after leading promoters No Limit Boxing announced Bankwest Stadium as the venue for an historic Double Header on December 16, 2020.

Alongside Australian boxing star Tim Tszyu who will be fighting Kiwi boxer Bowyn Morgan, the 'Super Samoan' Mark Hunt makes his return to the ring against former NRL star Paul Gallen in what will be the first co-main event to be held in Australia and the first Sydney stadium fight since Mundine vs Green in 2006. 

Paul Gallen and Mark Hunt is a rare match-up set to attract the interest of all sports fans, excited to see two big men with big mouths finally go toe-to-toe after a previously scheduled contest for April was cancelled due to COVID-19.…more

Tina the Tongan Tank (Tina Maota’tane) is a Black Fern based in Dunedin who likes to run it straight.

The Outliers is a gritty, unapologetic look at youth from minority backgrounds in New Zealand.  From great adversity comes great strength, so the aim of The Outliers is to search out youth who are the standout, the anomaly or the outlier in their community and in New Zealand.

The Outliers meets inspirational youth while also exploring the source of most minority success - the community where they come from!

.

Produced by Fire Fire for Māori Television | Made with the support of NZ On Air

This year the Dally M Awards were held at a virtual ceremony broadcast by Fox Sports last night and Pasifika, Maori & Indigenous players dominated the awards with 9 out of 13 players receiving Team of the Year Positional Awards.

Pasifika, Maori & Indigenous players also dominated in other awards of the night as follows - 

.

TACKLE OF THE YEAR - JOSH PAPALI'I 

Samoan 

Raiders big man Josh Papalii wins Youi Tackle of the Year honours for his incredible effort to run down Titans half Jamal Fogarty in round 15 at Cbus Super Stadium.

.

TRY OF THE YEAR - KOTONI STAGGS 

Tongan / Indigenous (Wiradjuri) 

Broncos centre Kotoni Staggs wins the Drinkwise Try of the Year award for his stunning individual effort against the Dragons in round 15 when he bamboozled Euan Aitken and stepped Matt Dufty to score a pearler.

.…more

NFL Fanzone present a 1hr Documentary on Samoan Quater Back Tua Tagovailoa.

This film is part of Fox Sports Films’ MAGNIFY series and will delve into the past year of Tua Tagovailoa’s life. Motivated by family support and critical pundits alike, the former University of Alabama quarterback works to overcome a career-threatening injury ahead of the 2020 NFL Draft. While focusing on the past year’s injury comeback during one of the greatest college football careers ever, the documentary also chronicles Tua’s evolution from childhood in Ewa Beach, Hawaii.

Presented by Hugo Boss | Samoan Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa hasn't played a snap in the NFL yet, but there's no question he's a special talent.

His move from amateur college athlete to professional NFL player meant that Tua started making some serious money. From a $80K 2020 Escalade for his mom to a $10K Rolex watch for his dad, find out everything he spent his first million dollars on.

Meet All Blacks debutants Hoskins Sotutu, Caleb Clarke and Tupou Va'ai ahead of the opening Bledisloe Cup Test for 2020.

Hoskins Sotutu (Fijian) son of former son of Blues and Fijian rugby player Waisake Sotutu

Caleb Clarke (Samoan) son of former Blues and All Blacks centre Eroni Clarke 

Tupou Va'ai (Tongan) is a former Wesley College prefect and is the first player born in the 2000s to be named an All Black.

Jorge Masvidal meets up with Mark Hunt, Tyson Pedro and his father to chow down on some authentic Samoan food in Sydney, Australia.

* PG recommended - coarse language 

Remember the video of Samoan security worker Summer Tapasa-Sataraka which went viral after she stopped a thief from walking out of Best Buy Hawai'i?  

The video caught the attention of UFC CEO Dana White and he flew Summer to Las Vegas for the weekend as his guest at UFC 246.  Check out how it all went down for Summer here 

KHON2 TV caught up with her today and she revealed that Dana and the UFC offered her a full time job at UFC headquarters in Las Vegas where she now works security for the organisations corporate office.  Check out their video interview with her below - 

“It’s been amazing. Everyone, they’re super, super nice,” she said. “I had a couple fighters take pictures of me like Jon Jones.…more

Unbeaten MMA fighter Carlos Ulberg is heading to fight island with a good chance of becoming a UFC fighter by the time he returns home.

The Samoan/Maori fighter along with team mate Blood Diamond, is in the reserve fighters category for UFC 253 but even if a fight does't eventuate there, they may pick up a fight on the island at the next show.  Carlos has been destined to go to the very top of his profession and may well have already been there if not for an injury last year.

He talks to Combat TV NZ here about this opportunity heading up with the boys on the UFC253 fight card.