| Men's rugby sevens at the 1997 Pacific Mini Games | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Location | Pago Pago, American Samoa | ||||||
| Dates | 12 August 1997 | ||||||
| Teams | 4 | ||||||
| Medalists | |||||||
| |||||||
Rugby sevens for the 1997 South Pacific Mini Games was held in Pago Pago, American Samoa and took place on 12 August. [1] [2] There were only four teams that contested the event. [1] [2]
Samoa claimed the gold medal after defeating American Samoa in the final. [1] [2] The Solomon Islands took bronze with their win against Niue. [1] [2]
| Teams | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | +/− | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Samoa | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 81 | 12 | +69 | Gold medal final |
 American Samoa | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 27 | 36 | –9 | |
 Solomon Islands | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 33 | 44 | –11 | Bronze Playoff |
 Niue | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 20 | 69 | –49 |
Pago Pago is the capital of American Samoa. It is in Maoputasi County on Tutuila, which is American Samoa's main island.
Togiola Talalelei A. Tulafono is an American Samoan politician and lawyer who served as the sixth governor of American Samoa. He is a member of the Democratic Party. He had previously served as the seventh lieutenant governor.
The American Samoa men's national football team represents American Samoa in men's international association football and is controlled by the Football Federation American Samoa, the governing body of the sport in the territory. American Samoa's home ground is the Pago Park Soccer Stadium in Pago Pago and their head coach is Tunoa Lui.
The Pacific Games, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from Oceania. The inaugural Games took place in 1963 in Suva, Fiji, and most recently in 2019 in Apia, Samoa. The Games were called the South Pacific Games from 1963 to 2007. The Pacific Games Council (PGC) organises the Games and oversees the host city's preparations. Athletes with a disability are included as full members of their national teams. In each sporting event, gold medals are awarded for first place, silver medals are awarded for second place, and bronze medals are awarded for third place.
Sports in American Samoa are slightly different from sports in Samoa. The main difference is that Samoans in American Samoa are more likely to follow or play American sports such as American football, basketball, and baseball. Western Samoans are more likely to follow or play rugby union, rugby league, and netball. Sports such as mixed martial arts, boxing, professional wrestling, and volleyball are popular among most ethnic Samoans regardless of location.
The Pacific Mini Games is a continental multi-sport event contested by countries and territories located in Oceania. The event has been held every four years since the inaugural games in Honiara, Solomon Islands in 1981. It was known as the South Pacific Mini Games prior to 2009. It is called the 'Mini' games because it is a scaled-down version of the main Pacific Games and is similarly rotated on a four-year basis in the intervening years between the main Games.
American Samoa is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the island country of Samoa. Centered on 14.3°S 170.7°W, it is east of the International Date Line and the Wallis and Futuna Islands, west of the Cook Islands, north of Tonga, and some 500 kilometers (310 mi) south of Tokelau. American Samoa is the southernmost territory of the United States and one of two U.S. territories south of the Equator, along with the uninhabited Jarvis Island.
The 2009 Pacific Mini Games was held in the Cook Islands from 21 September to 2 October. It was the 8th edition of the Pacific Mini Games.
Sport in Oceania varies from country to country. The most popular playing sport for men in Australia is Australian rules football, while for women is netball. Australian rules football is the most popular sport in terms of spectatorship and television ratings. Rugby union is the most popular sport among New Zealanders, while in Papua New Guinea rugby league is the most popular. While, Cricket is the most popular overall sport in Oceania.
Athletics competitions at the 1997 South Pacific Mini Games were held at the Veterans Memorial Stadium in Pago Pago, American Samoa, between August 15–20, 1997.
Rugby union has been a men's medal sport at the South Pacific Games, being played at nine of the first ten competitions. The sport debuted at the inaugural 1963 games where the gold medal was won by the host nation. It was subsequently featured in the following games till the tenth games in 1995.
Boxing at the Pacific Games has been contested since 1963 when it was included as one of ten sports at the First South Pacific Games held in Suva, Fiji. There are presently ten weight classes for the men's competition at the Pacific Games, known as the South Pacific Games prior to 2011, in accordance with the (amateur) International Boxing Association (AIBA) classifications.
The 1985 South Pacific Mini Games were held at Rarotonga in the Cook Islands from 31 July to 9 August 1985. It was the second edition of the South Pacific Mini Games.
The 1997 South Pacific Mini Games were held at Pago Pago in American Samoa from 11 to 22 August 1997. It was the fifth edition of the South Pacific Mini Games. It was much larger than previous editions, with an almost doubling of the number of medals awarded compared to the 1993 South Pacific Mini Games. The impressive performances by Nauru in weightlifting continued in Pago Pago, with the tiny nation finishing on top of the unofficial medal table after winning 33 gold.
Volleyball at the Pacific Games has been played since 1963.
The 2017 Pacific Mini Games were held in Port Vila, Vanuatu, in December 2017. It was the tenth edition of the Pacific Mini Games, and the second to be hosted in Vanuatu.
Beach volleyball at the Pacific Games has been contested since 1999 when the sport was included at the Eleventh South Pacific Games held in Guam. Since that time, Beach volleyball has been one of the core sports of the Pacific Games, required to be included for both men and women in every games. It has also been included in some of the Pacific Mini Games, starting with the seventh edition held in Palau in 2005.
Sailing at the Pacific Games was first contested when the sport was added for the 1969 games at Port Moresby. It has also been included at several of the Pacific Mini Games, starting with the fifth edition held in American Samoa in 1997.
Netball at the 1997 South Pacific Mini Games in Pago Pago, American Samoa was held from 12–18 August 1997.
