Opportunities for education: Missouri Valley College sports officials visit

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A group of sports officials, representatives from the Missouri Valley College (MVC) visited American Samoa this week for recruiting purposes, to give local student-athletes the opportunity to come to their school.

The group was led by Greg Silvey, the director of admissions for the school, who along with Paul Troth, MVC football head coach, and Paul’s wife, Heather Troth, assistant professor of Nonprofit Leadership arrived in American Samoa last week Thursday, and departed the territory last night.

The group visited all of the high schools in the territory and meet up with players who wish to continue their careers in sports outside of American Samoa.

They also met up with the ASNOC and several of the National Sports Federations this week, where they discussed many issues pertaining to scholarships for students.

MVC has several sports programs that are all included in the Olympic Sports Schedule — baseball & softball, basketball, golf, soccer, tennis, track & field, volleyball, weightlifting, and wrestling.

A final conference with all the players and their parents was held at the American Samoa National Olympic Committee (ASNOC) conference room at Tafuna on Wednesday evening, where players were given the opportunity to fill out forms for their information, to give to each sports department at the school.

Speaking to Samoa News, Mr. Troth stated that the main reason they visited American Samoa, is to give them the opportunity to speak directly to each student who wanted to get a scholarship to further their education outside of American Samoa, along with their parents, to discuss issues regarding their child.

“We have a lot of Samoan football players (who attended MVC) in the past, and some of them were from Hawai’i while others were from American Samoa. So, we planned that we should visit American Samoa and to give each player the opportunity to come over to our school and start training with us,” Troth said.

“Our main goal is to try to find students who are good in any sport … the door is open to any student in American Samoa who has the potential and is willing to become a good player in the future.

“In the past, we have had a good number of students from American Samoa who play in different sports in the school, and we are hoping to continue that,” he said.

According to Silvey, MVC is a private liberal arts college located in the Midwestern United States in Marshall, Missouri. The college offers more than 30 degree-programs and boasts a vibrant student life atmosphere on campus.

“MVC has a long tradition of athletic success and is home to the most winning-est football program in the NAIA. There are also a number of extracurricular activities to get involved in including fine arts, Greek life, and a number of student organizations,” he told Samoa News.

A father of a football player, who is a senior at one of the high schools told Samoa News that this is a great opportunity for all students who are playing any kind of sports in American Samoa, to try and take advantage of this opportunity — so they are able to go off island and pursue their career at a higher level.

“My son is a good football player for his school and I will encourage him to apply for the scholarship offered by MVC, so that he can get the chance to train and play…” off-island, one parent said.

Paul Troth, Missouri Valley College (MVC) head football coach, along with his wife, Heather Troth, assistant professor of Nonprofit Leadership during a conference meeting with students and their parents yesterday at the American Samoa National Olympic Committee (ASNOC) conference room, to explain how local student-athletes can be eligible to attend MVC.
[photo: AF]