XII Pacific Mini Games – Palau 2025

The Pacific Mini Games Palau 2025, officially known as the XII Pacific Mini Games, are a significant multi-sport event. The XII Pacific Mini Games Palau 2025 are held this year from June 29th to July 9th, and Palau will welcome over 1,500 athletes from (24 nations) for a celebration of sport and "Empowering Unity."

The Pacific Mini Games are a scaled-down multi-sport event of the Pacific Games as well as the twelfth edition of the Pacific Mini Games scheduled to be held from 29 June to 9 July 2025, in Koror, Palau. The country had previously hosted the 2005 edition making these Games the second to be held in Palau.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_Pacific_Mini_Games

The opening Ceremony was held on Sunday 29 June 2025 followed by ten great days of competition and the Closing Ceremony will be held on 9th July 2025.

Va’a: 30 June to 4 July

Athletics: 4-5 July and 7-9 July

Norfolk Island has two rep-presentative competing at the XII Pacific Mini Games in Palau. Taleyah Jones is proudly representing Norfolk Island in the Women’s Hammer Throw and Ada Nebauer racing in the Wa’a V1 Women’s 500m Sprints and V1 16km Marathon. Louise Donald also accompanied Ada and Taleyah as the Norfolk Island team manager and Ada’s coach.

Thank you to everyone who has supported Ada, Taleyah and Louise with fundraising, uniforms, and organising the sporting trip. Special thanks to Jac Grundy and Sheryl Yelavich for all their work to have Norfolk athletes attend these games.

The first week we saw Ada Nebauer outrigger Wa’a racing and she proudly raced in the Women’s V1, 500 sprint finals and finished 4th.

Her next big race was the Women’s V1, 16km Marathon. Once again Ada showed her skills on the water and finished 4th.

Ada Nebauer race program is now completed, and we are all very proud of Ada who has been representing the Norfolk Island Community, Norfolk Island Amateur Sports and Commonwealth Games Association and Norfolk Island Wa'a Outrigger Club for many years.

Taleyah Jones competition will be taking place from 4-5 to 7-9 July competing in the Women’s Hammer Throw. We are all proud to have Taleyah represent Norfolk Island and wish her well, Taleyah will be competing on Friday 4 July at 9am (11 am Norfolk time).

She also attended the 2023 Pacific Games, with a standout performance, including a personal best of 42.74m, she’s ready to take it even further.

Taleyah is representing the Norfolk Island Community, Norfolk Island Amateur Sports and Athletics Norfolk Island (ANI), also known as Norfolk Island Athletics Association.

Louise Donald, has kept the Norfolk Island community and supporters updated with results this week, thank you Louise for keeping us all up to date with the Pacific Mini Games Palau 2025. Plus, great images from the Opening Ceremony and I spotted Taleyah Jones was the Flag Bearer.

I have also research information about Palau and the Pacific Mini Games.

Palau, officially the Republic of Palau, is an island country in the Micronesia subregion of Oceania in the western Pacific Ocean. The Republic of Palau consists of approximately 340 islands and is the western part of the Caroline Islands, while the eastern and central parts make up the Federated States of Micronesia.

Norfolk Island (Kingston) hosted the Pacific Mini Games in 2001 with 10 Sports and 18 teams 97 events from 3 December to 14 December 2001. Check out the information recorded on the internet link.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Mini_Games

The Pacific Mini Games are 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.

The Mini Games have been hosted by 9 different Pacific Island capitals around 4 countries and 5 territories. Only the Cook Islands and Vanuatu have hosted twice, with Palau set to host the event for the second time in 2025. Similarly to the main Games, 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.

Read more details including countries attending and sports details and dates.

https://www.olympics.com/en/news/pacific-mini-games-2025-preview

For sporting event schedules and updates and information check out this internet for Palua 2025, Pacific Mini Games.

2025 Pacific Mini Games - Wikipedia

To follow the XII Pacific Mini Games Palau 2025, check out the Facebook page:

XII Pacific Mini Games Palau 2025 - FACEBOOK - Public group

https://www.facebook.com/groups/xiipacificminigamespalau2025/

There are also links on the Facebook page for live streaming of the sporting events.

I read that Australia has supported the mini games, in June they supplied media equipment for the 2025 Pacific Mini Games.

A shipment of Australian funded professional broadcast and media production equipment has officially arrived in Palau in preparation for the 2025 Pacific Mini Games, set to take place from June 29 to July 9, 2025, under the auspices of the Pacific Games Council.

The equipment is to support the Central Media Coverage Plan, a collaborative initiative between the Palau Media Council, the Palau National Olympic Committee (PNOC), the Pacific Games Council, and the Palau Mini Games Organizing Committee. The Plan will deliver comprehensive media coverage throughout the region, including a Daily Highlights Program (DHP) and live broadcasts of the Opening and Closing Ceremonies.

This initiative is part of a total contribution of AUD $240,000 from the Australian Government, covering the cost of the equipment, pre-production activities, specialized sports journalism training for local media personnel, and the deployment of two sports journalists to work alongside the Palau media team. This support aims to strengthen local media capacity and promote high-quality, regionally distributed coverage of the Games.

As part of Australia's commitment to strengthening local media capacity and fostering long-term development, all the equipment is being donated to the PNOC and the Palau Media Council. This donation forms part of the Games' enduring media legacy, aimed at promoting sports reporting in Palau well beyond the event itself.

A photo opportunity marking the arrival of the equipment was attended by Australian Ambassador to Palau H.E. Toby Sharpe, PNOC President Mr. Frank Kyota, PNOC Vice President Mr. Uchel Tmetuchl, and Palau Media Council President Ms. Leilani N. Reklai. With this support, Palau is now well-positioned to deliver a successful Games coverage with lasting impact in the field of Palau and Pacific sports media.

It is a big sporting month for Norfolk Island with representatives away at Tennis and Squash, along with the Junior Netball team who are also due to flying to Australia.

Plus, our Norfolk Island rep-presentative, Ada Nebauer and Taleyah Jones, along with Louise Donald in Palua at the 2025 Mini Games. We wish Taleyah all the best with her Hammer Throw competition.

Safe travel home after the games are completed. Thank you, Louise for sharing your photographs, plus I have found a few images on the internet and Facebook pages.

Betty Matthews

4 July 2025