Samoan Entrepreneurs Put Hawaii on Rugby Map with Launch of Aloha world Sevens Tournament.
(left to right): McKay Schwenke, Co-founder, Executive Vice President and Tournament Director; Lt. Governor Shan Tsutsui; Carolyne Craig Schwenke, Co-founder, Senior Vice President for Business Development and Product Sourcing; and Reg Schwenke, Co-founder, President and Chief Executive Officer
Amid the fanfare designed to show the State's robust support for Hawaii's new sporting initiative, three Samoan entrepreneurs, Reg, Mckay and Carolyne Schwenke met with Lt. Governor Shan Tsutsui to officially launch the Aloha World Sevens Rugby Tournament in Honolulu last month. Hawai’i Governor Neil Abercrombie and Lt. Governor Shan Tsutsui announced October, 15th, 2013, in a major joint press conference the establishment of a new Sports Development Initiative (SDI) to encourage and foster more international and world class sporting events in Hawai’i by “taking the lead role..."
Lt. Governor Tsutsui, who will oversee the new SDI, then met with ALOHA WORLD SEVENS co-founders Reg, Mckay and Carolyne Craig Schwenke the same day of the press conference, to voice his unwavering support. “We are ecstatic that Hawai’i will be hosting the ALOHA WORLD SEVENS tournament next year. The tournament is a fine example of how teams from all over the world can converge in Hawai’i to showcase their sport,” said Lt. Governor Shan Tsutsui.."
“The ALOHA WORLD SEVENS is in alignment with our new Sports Development Initiative (SDI), which seeks to expand and enhance our sports portfolio in hosting and attracting international events, making Hawai’i the center-stage of athletic events in the Asia-Pacific region,” he added.
Sevens Rugby is a fast-paced, exciting and generally high scoring game with 7-minute halves and 2-minute halftime periods. The worldwide popularity of Sevens Rugby is evidenced by the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) addition of the sport to the Olympic Games, beginning with the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The ALOHA WORLD SEVENS tournament has already been officially sanctioned by USA Rugby (USAR), the national organization that governs the sport in the U.S. The final ALOHA WORLD SEVENS competition line up will be based on world IRB rankings and timely responses from invited rugby unions. USA Rugby’s President and Chief Executive Officer will assist AWS in coordinating contact with the world’s top national rugby union officials to ensure there will be a full complement of teams.
“We are very excited to introduce and host the 3-day ALOHA WORLD SEVENS (AWS) as the world’s largest Junior Sevens Rugby (U20) international championship tournament. It is the first world class Rugby tournament of this scale ever held in Hawai’i,” Reg Schwenke, President and Chief Executive Officer stated. He added: “We plan to make Hawai’i our permanent home and further enhance the state’s image as a world-class sports and multicultural destination.”
Reg Schwenke, the co-founder of ALOHA WORLD SEVENS (AWS) is also the founding TBS Editor and Publisher and co-creator of Total Blue Sports Magazine. Eric Nelson, who designed the TBS logo and has served as TBS Director of Design since its inception, is AWS Vice President of Design and Information Technology. Nelson currently operates his own graphic design firm, Studio853, in Utah.
The other AWS co-founders are McKay Schwenke, former BYU-Hawaii head rugby coach, who is Executive Vice President and Tournament Director; Carolyne Craig Schwenke, Senior Vice President for Business Development; and Angie Schwenke, Senior Vice President for Tournament Operations.
Aloha Sevens Logo
Both Reg and McKay Schwenke are of Samoan/German ethnicity, but were born and raised in Auckland, New Zealand.
The AWS co-founders have set loftier goals for the future development of their ALOHA WORLD SEVENS tournament and related special events under the parent organization, AWS Events Group LLC, a Hawai’i-based entity.
Carolyne Craig Schwenke, AWS Co-Founder and Senior Vice President, noted that “one of the critical future goals of our AWS Events Group is to provide unprecedented opportunities for multicultural interaction, exchange and learning about dance, music, performing arts and fashions of other world cultures involved with our AWS tournament.”
Carolyne is spearheading an AWS international multicultural festival that will be unveiled with the second annual 2015 AWS tournament featuring top performing groups and fashion contingents from the international countries participating in the tournament.
An accomplished Maori/Samoan/Scottish and third-generation Chinese businesswoman from New Zealand, she is currently Chairman and Chief Executive Officer for a Shanghai-based company in China with a 20-year WFOE (Wholly Foreign Owned Enterprise) China license to conduct business in seven different areas of commerce – International Business, Technology, Financial Investment, Education, Travel, Immigration and Environmental Management.
She has over 30 years of business development and more than 10 years of event management in international events. She has generated new development projects for international companies entering China. She is also a Creator and Executive Producer of ALOHA CHINA with her husband and business partner.
First 7 to Polynesian Football Hall of Fame to be named 10 a.m. at Sheraton Waikiki
tautalatala.com staff
(Honolulu, HAWAI'I)--The first seven honorees to the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame will be named 10 a.m. tomorrow, during a press conference at the Sheraton in Waikiki.
Polynesian Football Hall of Fame Co-founders – Super Bowl Champions Jesse Sapolu and Ma’a Tanuvasa, along with Dick Tomey, a member of the selection committee – will make the announcement, according to a statement issued this week by HOF.
The establishment of the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame was announced August this year by its board of directors comprised of Sapolu, Tanuvasa, Vai Sikahema, Troy Polamalu, Reno Mahe and June Jones. The Polynesian Hall of Fame, a non-profit organization, honors Polynesia’s greatest football players, coaches and contributors. The organization seeks to establish a permanent home within an existing historical landmark or building located in Hawai’i.
There are nearly 60 NFL players of Polynesian descent including perennial Pro Bowlers and Super Bowl Champions Polamalu and Haloti Ngata, currently playing in the NFL, the HOF notes.
NFL greats Maa Tanuvasa and Jesse Sapolu bookend Dick Tomey, UH coach who exposed the College Football scene to Polynesian players.
“In the last Super Bowl (XLVII), five players represented Polynesia and more and more are being selected atop the NFL Draft,” the HOF says in an August statement. “Polynesian football players have become part of the American football lexicon.”
Four-time Super Bowl Champion with the San Francisco 49ers, Sapolu, said that there have been many Polynesian football players who’ve “made a profound impact on the game we all love.”
“It is our responsibility to honor these legends and help educate our young people about their significant contribution to Polynesian history and football,” Sapolu said.
The official event celebrating the achievements of the first class of inductees, will be held early next year at the Hawai'i Convention Center on Thursday, January 23, 2014 prior to the NFL Pro Bowl.
“The Inaugural Enshrinement Ceremony will be unlike any other Hall of Fame induction,” said Co-Founder and two-time Super Bowl Champion Ma’a Tanuvasa. “It will be an authentic Polynesian experience – a celebration of our greatest football legends and Polynesian culture.”