About Kumul Cubers - Who are we?
We are Papua New Guinea's pioneer speedcubing team at World Cube Association competitions. We exist to foster and grow a love for cubing for everyone, especially Papua New Guineans. We are a global team of speedcubers originally from Papua New Guinea and we stand to encourage people of all ages and races to pursue your passion, grow your gifts and God-given talent and to invest your time, money and resources in to things that will add value to your own life. The great thing about cubing is that there is no age limit to the fun that these cool puzzles bring. Whether you are a seasoned speedcuber looking to better your P.B, or a beginner just getting in to it to get some mental exercise, one thing is for sure, it is loads of fun! So grab yourself a cube, and have fun!!
Pictured above from left to right: Kumul Cubers Josh, Caleb, Alois, Zeke and Izzy attending the Rubik's WCA Oceanic Championship in Melbourne in December 2022
Our Backstory
Papua New Guinea was first represented at World Cube Association competitions in June 2018. For a few years there was only one family of siblings competing at competitions until a couple of other boys had joined competitions in 2021. In 2022, the Hemetsberger family started attending WCA competitions. Since that first competition in 2018, there have been other Papua New Guineans join us as the Kumul Cubers to compete in WCA events but our association is not limited to participants only. We also have individuals whose families lived in PNG and also include those who actively support the vision and goals of the Kumul Cubers. The core team of cubers that consistently compete to represent PNG are the co-founding members of the Hemetsberger and Tekwie families (pictured below). Both families share the passion to bring speedcubing to PNG and have made it our mission to establish a speedcubing body in PNG where we can collaborate with the World Cube Association to bring official events into the country and thereby giving more Papua New Guineans and opportunity to compete and be ranked against other cubers in their country, region and the world.
Co-founding families of the Kumul Cubers. Left: Hemetsberger family: Right Tekwie Family
Our Vision
Our vision is to see more and more Papua New Guineans take up this worthwhile activity of cubing, whether it be as a hobby, a casual pass time puzzle to get your neurons firing or as an avid speed-cuber up for any competition. Although we are specific to cubing, second to that is our hope to inspire others into pursuing their passion, growing their God-given gifts and talents and investing time, money and resources into adding value to themselves as this is what cubing does for us. It is a passion that we have developed over time and we continue to grow and get better at since finding we have a knack for it. We have since then invested a lot of our time and resources into our cubing as it is not only fun but includes much cognitive development and therefore personal benefits. Hence, our motto: Pursue your passion. Grow your gifts. Invest into yourself!
Kumul Cubers at Brisbane Autumn 2022
Our Goals
Short term goals
To represent Papua New Guinea at as many local competitions hosted by the World Cubing Association as possible. At this stage, each Kumul Cuber is attending events on their own accord through self sponsorship. This is an ongoing practice as there are many WCA competitions hosted throughout each year.
Pictured are Kumul Cubers meeting online from Brisbane all the way to Vanimo, Sandaun Province PNG.
Medium term goals
We are currently raising funds for the following reasons:
- To provide sponsorship for all Kumul Cubers to register and attend any WCA event that is within their locality in QLD. Alongside this is to provide merchandise (a team uniform), transport and lunches to the competitors on competition days.
- Send a contingent of cubers to represent PNG at interstate competitions. The next one of significance is the Oceanic Championship 2024 in Perth on the 19th-22nd of December 2024. This event requires sponsorship for registration of competitors, interstate travel, food & accommodation and team merchandise for the duration of this global event.
Pictured above: Kumul Cubers Josh and Caleb at Koalification 2019 with the GOAT of speedcubing Felix Zemdegs
Long term goals
Our long term goal is to host the World Cube Association competitions in PNG so that more Papua New Guineans have the chance to be participate in these internationally recognised competitions as well as be a part of this global cubing community. We are currently in the process of establishing Speedcubing Papua New Guinea Inc that will be the vehicle to drive all of our associations with the World Cube Association.
YouTuber Tingman featured in a video giving an encouraging message to all the Kumul Cubers