Pacific rugby nations take note. Minnow Solomon Islands is showing the way.
The Solomon Islanders are not letting their rugby smallness get in the way of their big plans.
They're putting into practice the saying 'where there's a will, there is a way'. Their rugby union (Solomon Islands Rugby Union Federation) is embarking on a project that has been hailed as a first for the region.
They're building a multi-million dollar shopping complex to generate the necessary funds to finance the work of the union. The complex includes a rugby stadium.
The US$10-US$12 million (equivalent to between SOL$80.2-SOL$96.3 million)-stadium/shopping complex is big. You can't miss it if you're driving along the main street of Honiara. It is in an area where there is a lot of development springing up. The cost is just an estimation, it could be more when it's completed, LETTER FROM SUVA was told.
The stadium, expected to be ready next year, can sit about 2000 people. It will have a gymnasium and carparks and can be hired out to other sporting organisations wishing to use it.
Its shopping complex is a three-storey building with space for 120 outlets. To be able to rent a space there, there are strict guidelines to follow before one can set up shop.
The shopping mall, which is expected to be finished by the end of the year, will be modern, trendy and modelled on Australian and international standard malls. It will definitely revolutionise shopping in Honiara, LETTER FROM SUVA was told.
The second floor will be used for offices and the top floor will be for accommodation and venues for conferences.
And the design? LETTER FROM SUVA was told that it is a Mediterranean design done by Italian architects and very impressive.
The complex is being built on a piece of land on fixed lease allocated to rugby by the Honiara Town Council. Those familiar with Honiara will know it as the old Town Ground.
Once completed, it would be a showpiece not only for Honiara and the Solomons but also for the rugby fraternity in the region.
Fiji's Dr Robin Mitchell, of the International Olympic Committee, who was there recently, commended the officials saying this is definitely a big thing. It is a first in the Pacific for a sporting body to own such a complex of its own.
"We realise, it is a first for the Pacific and we are humbled by it," says former secondary school teacher Nick Hatigeva. He is now the International Rugby Board (IRB)-funded development officer for SIRUF.
"We're building something that is unique, something different, something modern which will set the trend.
"For us, this has meant that finally rugby now has a home. We now have a proper rugby pitch we can play in. We now have a hope to generate revenue to support our many programmes."
Fiji Rugby Union chairman Keni Dakuidreketi, when told of the project, had "nothing but commendation for SIRUF. It is a huge undertaking and I salute them for it."
How was it possible? In the Solomons, soccer is big. It has money and it has a home- Lawson Tama stadium- of international standard. No other sport is allowed to play in this stadium.
Rugby, on the other hand, has no money. It does not have a ground. It struggles to hold weekly competitions. Matches are played in open grounds and do not generate any revenue for the rugby union. Even trying to find sponsorship is difficult.
Just ask national rugby team manager Florie Whiteside, who hails from Macuata, in Vanua Levu, Fiji.
"It is been a struggle to get sponsors. Just imagine when we went to Samoa last year for our first World Cup seven qualifiers, we had no money. But that did not deter us.
"Unfortunately, we don't have big sponsors like what Fiji rugby and what other big nations have. But we have been very lucky to have local companies like XJ6 and Our Telekom to name a few who have helped us along the way."
It is this struggle that has given SIRUF the will to survive and to do even better and not rely on others.
Enter Austree Enterprises and China United. "We were fortunate that these two companies were willing to come in and fund the project under BOT (Build, Own and Transfer).
"We don't have money and the only way we can build and own such a thing is through this concept and it is a concept that has worked for us," says Hatigeva.

DEAL
Under this deal, the two companies will run the shopping complex for 45 years. It will then be handed over to the SIRUF. The 45 years granted by SIRUF will allow the two companies to recover their costs.
This would mean SIRUF taking over and owning the whole complex by 2055.  President Jay Kabei told LETTER FROM SUVA that under the current agreement the two companies will be responsible for the commercial part of the project (ie shopping complex), while the stadium and other sporting facilities will come under SIRUF. There is also a provision within the agreement which allows for a review of the deal.
LETTER FROM SUVA understands the union is looking at some options to be able to get "a little bit more from the agreement". As it stands now under the current agreement, the only funds the SIRUF will get is from the use of the stadium and other sporting facilities.

CRITICISM
The stadium/shopping complex has had its fair share of criticisms. One such critic is the tourism minister Seth Gukuna. He described the rugby stadium as "one example of Asian businessmen invading this nation to operate their business here while the indigenous Solomon Islanders are not being given the opportunity to run their business on a particular land in Honiara".
But rugby president Kabei defended the companies. He has told local media the companies had risked millions of dollars to venture into partnership with SIRUF in a country that has a history of political instability.
He added that the project will help boost not just sports in the country but also tourism, "not to mention the long-term spinoff effects on the ailing local economy".

FUTURE
Ranked 76 in the February 23, 2009, IRB world rankings, one position up from the previous ranking, SIRUF is optimistic about the future.
Ten years from now they want to do what Kenya has done in world sevens rugby...from an unknown rugby nation to a nation that can upset the best in rugby.
"That's our aim to be up there with the best and that is the only way to go...up and up," says Whiteside.