SUVA (Fiji) - Basketball Fiji wanted to celebrate the work they've been putting in this year to develop 3x3 in the country with their youth programs, the Federation organized a tournament to put all their learnings together in the Suva 3x3 Tournament.

Basketball Fiji Chief Operation Officer, Laisiasa Puamau proudly shared details of the tournament held over the weekend that featured 46 teams and 184 players held at the Yat Sen Primary School in Suva.

"We wanted to link this tournament to our current programs because of our work with 3x3. We were able to organize our programs in seven primary schools and wanted to reflect that into this tournament," shared Puamau.

"The one-day tournament featured U13 to U19 divisions and we had a lot of pre-tournament preparation before the event and it was a key to the success of the competition," he added.

"The smile on the kid's faces always makes it worth it for us. Everyone was excited from the parents to the partners, and the coaches themselves. We were already talking about the next event after the conclusion of the tournament," said Laisiasa Puamau.

Puamau shared that BF partnered with the Ministry of Health (MOH) for the tournament and it was a partnership that he believes can help each other more in the future.

"It was a great experience to partner with the MOH, Sub Divisional Medical Officer,  Dr. Vini Kalougivaki was in attendance and they were able to provide information on Covid-19 guidelines and why we needed to follow them," he shared.

"They had a booth installed inside the school that participants can visit, to learn about health while also providing pamphlets that contain healthy and lifestyle information for the kids," he added.

The former national team players expressed his delight with the reception of the players and the turnout for the event including the supporters of the team.

"The smile on the kid's faces always makes it worth it for us. Everyone was excited from the parents to the partners, and the coaches themselves. We were already talking about the next event after the conclusion of the tournament," said Puamau.

Basketball Fiji and the Ministry of Health in Fiji are already penciling in the second or third week of January for the next 3x3 tournament.

"We are planning a bigger tournament next edition and hope to get participation from Lautoka and Nadi. We will also be promoting it early in hopes to attract more girls teams too. It's a project everybody is excited about and we are keen to learn from this and make the next one even better," said Puamau.

FIBA