FIJI -- Singapore national basketball team coach Frank Arsego presided over a successful mentorship program with Fiji's U15 national teams last May 23-25 in preparation for the FIBA U15 Oceania Championships to be held on  2-8 of December, 2018.

In a collaborative effort between FIBA Oceania and Basketball Fiji, Arsego's visit to the island nation was set in motion during the High Performance Workshop.

FIBA Oceania, Development Manager, Annie La Fleur is ecstatic with Arsego's mentorship program in Fiji.

"We are extremely happy with all the help Frank did for the U15 Men's and Women's team of Fiji and hope that this will accelerate Fiji's basketbal development," said La Fleur, a former WNBA player.

"This is only the start for them and we can't wait for the results to show when the U15 Championship starts," she added.

Arsego is tremendously delighted with his first trip in the South Pacific nation and commended Basketball Federation of Fiji with their commitment to the program in developing their national youth teams.

"The trip was personally a wonderful basketball experience. The program for the 3-day visit was very well scheduled to maximize the time spent on court with players and coaches, as well as sessions with the coaches and Basketball Fiji staff," said Arsego.

"BF (Basketball Federation of Fiji) was able to present a cross section of the basketball community in Fiji, ranging from development to Junior National representation and demonstrated awesome commitment and passion to see the improvement of Fiji basketball," he added.

Arsego shared his observations of the pool of players trying out for spots of the U15 Oceania Championship that will commence late this year.

"At this stage in the National team program, the players are demonstrating potential to develop into very good national team representatives. They are at that age which requires them to work on their fundamental skills until they become instinctive," he quipped.

"Their energy and commitment to playing is second to none, and they show a respect to the game which was wonderful to see," added the impressed Arsego.

The FIBA U15 Oceania Championship will be played on December 2-8 this year, and will include participation from powerhouse teams Australia and New Zealand.

Fiji's year long preparation should augur positive results in the tournament as the rest of the region is trying to close the gap against the dominant grip of AUS and NZL in the region.

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"I believe that the U15 teams will give a very good account of themselves come December. Fiji has outlined a very solid program and their planning is very good, the opportunity for the teams to play some good practice games before the tournament will be a benefit for them," said Arsego.

Fiji national team manager, Thomas Acosta shared how appreciative BF is with Arsego's guidance with the U15 teams in his three-day visit.

"Overall, kids, coaches, managers and parents had a wonderful time with Coach Frank. We learned a lot and was really motivated to compete and do our best in training," said Acosta.

Arsego is also hoping that they can continue to sustain the partnership with Aresgo as they plan to bring him back for another workshop in the near future.

"We are hopeful there will be future opportunities for the Coach Frank to visit back, we plan to do this during school breaks and have a much longer visit to learn more from the mentor coach and have more sessions especially in the west region," said Acosta.

"The Federation benefitted a lot on this kind of activity as this binds the community and federation in organizing activities which everyone benefits on. The coaches and players that came in gained a lot," he added.

Arsego was very appreciative of Fiji's hospitality to his visit and shared that if there are more opportunites, he will gladly go back to the country and continue his support for the U15 teams throughout the year.

"I found Fiji to be a beautiful place and the people even more so. The people that I met were all wonderful and so welcoming, they could not do enough for you. I am more determined to offer all the help and knowledge I can offer," said Arsego.

"We will stay connected with various forms of communication and I will send them information, such as training plans, drills and concepts to complement their needs for the group," he added.

The Australian native believes in the vision of FIBA Oceania that the potential of Fiji and the rest of the region is just waiting to be tapped.

Read more here: Oceania Federations planning for the future with high-performance workshop

"I would like to take the opportunity to thank Annie Fleur and FIBA Oceania for giving me the opportunity to visit the NT programmes in Fiji, it was a great reminder of my humble beings many years ago, when starting out as a coach," said Arsego.

"FIBA Oceania is doing a great job of recognizing that countires like Fiji is a great basketball nation in the making. I am very confident that there will be a fine group of coaches and players that will represent their country proudly at the up and coming tournament in December, because they all would have put the work in," he ended.

Photos from Basketball Fiji Facebook page