Port Moresby (Papua New Guinea) - Basketball Federation of Papua New Guinea (BFPNG) participated in the 2019 Trukai Fun Run to support the fundraising activity for the Papua New Guinea National Teams competing in the Pacific Games in Samoa.

BFPNG organized a Hoops For Health clinic at the Ela Beach Basketball courts after the Fun Run, teaching the basics of 3x3 basketball to the general public.

"This is the first year that Trukai invited BFPNG to be a participant in its program and we are very excited to be part of it," said BFPNG Executive Officer, Stephen Damien.

"We thought it was a good opportunity to introduce basketball and our Hoops For Health program to more people, so we grabbed it and organized a clinic after the event," he added.

The Hoops For Health program is an Australian aid initiative implemented by BFPNG on behalf of the Australian Government.

The Trukai Fun Run, which started in 1983, witnessed over 70,000 runners and over 30,000 in Port Moresby alone this year. National Sports Federations contribute to this event by providing volunteers to help the police, army, Correctional Officers, medical support teams and organizers.

"The BFPNG volunteers were made up of members of the National Men's and Women's teams of 5 on 5 and 3x3. We also had our Hoops for Health coaches participating in the Fun Run," shared Damien.

After the clinic, the 3x3 national team players participated in the scrimmage to play and teach the public about the urban sport which is going to be introduced as a new medal discipline in the 2019 Pacific Games.

Hoops For Health Coach Puraru Muri commended the partnership with Trukai and believed that BFPNG will have better involvement in the future.

"It was a great event for everybody involved and we've seen a lot of new people that enjoyed basketball. We are happy to also teach the benefits of a healthy lifestyle through 3x3," Muri said.

"There were a number of things that we can improve on next year so we can deliver greater participation both in terms of attendees to the clinics but also greater involvement our partners in the Health sector and other agencies," he added.

FIBA