GOLD COAST (Australia) – The FIBA Oceania Board met online for the final board meeting of 2022 to discuss and reflect on the year and how 2023 is shaping up.

FIBA Secretary General, Andreas Zagklis and FIBA Senior Director, Markus Studer attended the online meeting alongside FIBA Oceania President, Burton Shipley, FIBA Oceania Vice President, David Reid, FIBA Executive Director, Amanda Jenkins and FIBA Oceania Board Members, Frank Cruz, Hans Tuahivaatetonohiti, Jubilee Kiruu Kuartei, and Thierry Durand.

FIBA Oceania President, Burton Shipley commented on the successful year of basketball development and events across the region, highlighting the FIBA Women’s World Cup as the pinnacle of what Oceania can achieve when it comes to Women in Basketball. 

“It has been a huge year with a lot of activity crammed into six months of the year,” Shipley said.  “It has been wonderful to see events back on court with so much competitive basketball being played.  Following on from the global pandemic, we are now all caught up with events and it has been encouraging to see all federations back in action.”

FIBA Secretary General, Andreas Zagklis supported Shipley’s comments and complimented the region on the success of events and development programs through Basketball for Good being coordinated.  Executive Director - Oceania, Amanda Jenkins, also highlighted the success of events and programs.

“It has been a massive year for Oceania with a lot of events and Basketball for Good Programs being coordinated,” Jenkins said.  “All federations have been proactive in ensuring that basketball is at the forefront of sport development which has been encouraging and will provide a solid base heading into 2023.

“With several highlights throughout the year, it culminated with several significant achievements in November that reflect the diversity of Oceania.  We had six women’s head coaches coaching six women’s teams at the FIBA U15 Championship as well as Coach Pualele Atoa-Craig leading the way at the FIBA Polynesian Cup as head coach of the Samoan Men’s team.  Another incredible individual achievement was that of Adam Maikai from the Papua New Guinea Under 15 Men’s Team who scored 52 points in his first ever FIBA game.”

Looking ahead to 2023, Oceania federations will be continuing with their development programs including the addition of the PacificAus Partnership which will support Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa and Solomon Islands with building their high-performance capabilities.

The Zone Board also discussed 2023 FIBA Oceania Competitions, Federation participation in international events including FIBA 3x3 Asia Cup, Micronesian Games, FIBA Women’s Asia Cup, FIBA Basketball World Cup, FIBA U17 Oceania Championships and the Pacific Games. 

The FIBA Oceania Zone Assembly will be held on the Gold Coast in May 2023 with FIBA Congress scheduled for August in the Philippines.

FIBA