FIJI (FIBA Oceania) - Basketball Fiji's Bula Hoops program is now on its fifth year and the national federation is planning to make it more impactful and successful in 2019.

Bula Hoops Coordinator William Peter shared that Basketball Fiji plans to reach and teach more children in this year's program.

"We will be starting Term 1 of the program on February 26, and plan to run the program in International School again this year. We will have Term 2 around September to reach more kids," said Peter.

"We also plan to start the program in the Western Division of Fiji later in the year," he added.

The Bula Hoops Program is an after-school basketball clinic designed to teach the basics fundamentals of the game for children aged 5 to 15 years old. The developmental program is made possible by the support of FIBA and the Australian Government funding through the Pacific Sports Partnership Program.

Bula Hoops attracted over 100 kids from all over the capital of Suva in 2018, with young enthusiasts regularly attending basketball clinics after school.

 BF is anticipating at least 80 participants in Term 1 and plans to continue the promotion of their program to develop basketball in the country.

"This year we plan to increase the number of children to the program and get more interest on the sport. We realized that for basketball to grow we need to grow our numbers for the grassroots level. So that's a good goal for us to strive for," said Peter.

Peter is supported by BF Sport Development Officer Kenneth Taliu and local coach Thomas Acosta with numerous volunteers to run the sessions.

FIBA