SUVA (Fiji) - Basketball Fiji's (BF) popular Bula Hoops program is back for 10 weeks to help introduce basketball to the youth in Suva.

Bula Hoops is part of the Basketball For Good Program which is an Australia Aid initiative on behalf of the Australian Government in partnership with FIBA.

A new component to this year's Bula Hoops program is the integration of age divisions within the participants.

"Basketball Fiji's Bula Hoops has grown by leaps and bounds so to accommodate and cater to our younger kids needs, we decided to put an age group division to have a different focus for each section," shared BF Chief Operating Officer Laisiasa Puamau.

"This is a 10-week program and we hope we get more kids to join throughout clinics," he added.

The 2019 Bula Hoops program added the Fijian Hoops for U8's, Bula Hoops for U10's and a Skills Day for U12's.

"Aside from dividing the kid's age group we also adjusted the theme for each day to give the kids different looks," Puamau said.

Puamau broke down the themes of the 3-days-a-week program into the following categories:

Monday - Basketball is Fun (size 4 basketballs)
Wednesday - Learn to Train (size 5 basketballs)
Friday - Train to Play (size 6 basketballs)

"Bula Hoops along with our Hoops For Health program are the pillars for our grassroots development so we need to keep refining it and make it fresh for the kids," said Paumau.

"We are inviting the parents to bring along their kids and learn to play the game of basketball while also promoting a healthy lifestyle at a young age," he added.

FIBA Oceania's Basketball For Good Manager, Peter Topp expressed his delight in the return of the program and the innovations BF has implemented to improve the program.

"Bula Hoops has been part of the core programs Basketball Ball For Good since it's launch and to see the program thrive is a great to thing to witness," said Topp. "I hope through innovations they continue to get more participants to join the program and play basketball."

For more information: Please email bulahoops@gmail.com or message Basketball Fiji on Facebook

FIBA