Gold Coast (Australia) - The Online Basketball Webinars organized by FIBA's regional office in the Gold Coast has received positive reaction with its National Federation Members.

The series of webinars kicked off on March 31 with a Presenter and Facilitator program by Basketball For Good Manager, Peter Topp and overall has recorded over 300 participants from 16 countries as of April 16.

Aside from the beforementioned facilitator workshop, other webinars presented are the following: Offensive Spacing Principles by Kaleb Sclater, 3x3 Referee Modules by Vanessa Devlin, Screen & Roll by Brent Tipton, Referee Communication by Jillian Harris and Building Fundamentals by Gail Macfarlane, Conflict Resolution for Referees by Albert Joseph and Training methods by Claudia Brassard.

FIBA Executive Director, David Crocker commended the webinars and those involved in executing the program.

"The webinars are a complete team effort and everyone has done a fantastic job in organizing the workshops for our National Federation members," Crocker said. "We want to thank the presenters who have generously shared their time, given the situation, we are doing the best we can to help our members during these tough times."

The webinars designed initially to cater to its National Federations has been expanding with numerous requests from the public to join the workshops.

Photo: Macfarlane during her webinar presentation

One of the regular attendees, Kenneth Taliu, the National Basketball Development Officer (NBDO) of Fiji shared that he and other coaches from the country are enjoying the experience.

"The webinars have been really good. I am learning new things and in different ways. Our NBDO in the West and our Bula Hoops coordinators have also been a part of the webinars and I am sure they are enjoying the learning experience we are all having," said Taliu.

Papua New Guinea's NBDO Jordan Sere and Tahiti's Women's national youth team coach, Tuhiata Mariteragi also shared their positive comments regarding the workshops.

"Given the situation, it's a really good thing for us and a really good project, we hope they continue to do more of these even after the lockdown, It's something that is beneficial to the coaches and referees joining the webinars," Sere said.

"I like the interactivity and the way the presenters use videos to explain their presentation. It is helping me prepare as a coach and as a referee too. It's really great too that they share the videos and presentation after so we can review and share them with other people too," Mariteragi added.

The series is ongoing until the end of April with scheduled webinars including a Basketball For Good workshop by Peter Topp, 5 on 5 Referee Webinars by John Rearden and Nicolas Fernandez.

FIBA Oceania Development Manager, Annie La Fleur, shared that the Oceania office is already working on topics and future presenters to continue the program after the first phase is completed.

"We are already working on the next phase of the project. We are currently developing a coaching course program and a tournament course that will focus on women in basketball," La Fleur shared.

FIBA