NSFCI next term election held
by N. Ricacho
Diario Filipino No. 28/Dec 2004
The North Shore Filipino Community Inc. (NSFCI) held its election of officers on 25th September 2004 at Northcote College. There was an appreciable num�ber of voters with a good balance of old and new members who were all willing to shell out a small sum as membership fee. The event had a fiesta atmosphere com�plete with dinuguan, biko and sago�t gulaman and kids frolicking about as their parents or older siblings cast their votes while some were having their ball�game practices.
Of the 18 nominees, the following emerged as the new officers: Leo Bondad, Marie Maligro, Butch Ramos, Bert Ricacho, Lourdes Santos, Freddie Suarez and Cyrene Tionko. At the AGM held on 13th November 2004, Gina Nunag and Johniel Tablang were chosen as additional officers.
As has been a yearly undertaking since the formation of the organisation in 1998, NSFCI continued to send a sports contingent to the Labour Weekend celebrations. More than 80 team players, one of the biggest con�tingent a single Filipino community organi�sation ever sent to this annual event, went to the Fiesta sa Tauranga 2004 which is our annual national Filipino reunion. The num�ber of supporters, families and friends of players and organisers who all went to Tauranga has risen to more than 100 as everybody wanted to share with the fun of traveling and cheering for the teams.
The women�s basketball team was success�ful in defending the championship title. The under-22 boys basketball and women�s Volleyball Teams emerged as first-runners up, while we got 3rd places for table tennis, men�s volleyball, under-15 and women�s (YFC) basketball.
Last year, North Shore was likewise the hotbed for most of the 2003 labour weekend sports events as the major games like bas�ketball, volleyball, bowling and tennis were all played in this city. The contribution made by NSFCI to this big event cannot be under�rated nor ignored. NSFCI shall be represent�ing North Shore City at the 2005 labour weekend event in Christchurch and invita�tions are now extended to groups willing to partner with NSFCI in this event.
With the able coordination of Butch Ramos, Gina Nunag, Leo Bondad, Freddie Suarez, Lourdes Santos, Cyrene Tionko, Gil Domingo and Bert and Eva Ricacho, NSFCI is assured of a clean and honest manage�ment. This time we see the coordinators and coaches all keen to play their roles without unnecessarily edging out players from their own slots.
Most of the NSFCI contingent stayed at Paparoa Marae where they were joined by RetroSpect band (see photo) and where bonding was developed more among the players and the other members of the com�munity. The North Shore visitors were given a traditional Maori welcome and it was a great opportunity to have fostered friendly ties between us Filipinos and our Maori hosts.
A
CFC Youth for Christ (YFC) women�s basketball team has likewise
participated in the practices with the North Shore Teams. For several
Saturdays, Northcote College was always teeming with old and young people
alike who all gave appreciation to the family atmosphere prevailing in the
venue, complete with the usual delicacies served by the Atilano�s. It
was a common sight to see non-NSFCI players come to the venue and join the fun.