Associates Rugby Club will be lighting up Swanbourne on 19th September as they host their ‘Islander Day’ celebrations during their final home game at Allen Park.
Islander Day’ will celebrate Polynesia culture down at the club and will include an abundance of festivities ranging from dancing, food and drinks and live music in between the two matches.
The day also sees Associates host their final home game of the season against the Coastal Cavaliers as the ‘Soaks’ premier grade side continue to pursue a spot at the top of the standings.
As a part of the celebrations the Premier Grade side will don custom islander style jerseys with the two teams also fighting for the elusive RugbyWA Cup.
The event has been made possible by the efforts of ‘Soaks’ player JP Sauni who has been working tirelessly behind the scenes to string together the proceedings.
“The Island day and night is a special day for us Polynesian boys that are at the club. Sauni said,”
“Mostly the players in the club who are from outside Australia and I thought it will be a good idea to have this special week and make the boys express their culture to the club and WA and mostly to the Soaks (Associates) family showing them what's our culture means to us and also making the boys feel at home.”
“Showcasing our culture with live performances during the day alongside our custom designed jerseys will be great for the local community.”
“Full credit must go to Wiemu Paaki also known as ‘Woody’ who helped organize and create the custom jumpers, it’s really lifted the vibe around the club and at training.”
Being Sauni’s first year at the club he wanted to showcase a new side of the local club while putting on a great day for the local Swanbourne and WA Rugby Community.
“The club has shown me so much love especially to our Polynesian boys, so I thought it would be an awesome idea for us to host an Island day event,” he explained.
“Mainly to show what our love is for our culture and show everyone how proud we are to play here and share all of that with our ‘Soaks’ family.”
“After the games there will be an islander feed, which showcases most of our traditional meals and dance performances.”
“I just want everyone to get around and have fun enjoy and come together as one , also it's our last home game for the season so I expect a big crowd.”
“We would love everyone to come in our dress code which will be an Ahola/Hawaiian theme.”
Associates will start their Island day celebrations at 2:00pm on Saturday 19th of September with the main event of the Fortescue Premier Grade kicking off at 3:30pm against the Coastal Cavaliers.
