Koror (PALAU) - The Palau Basketball Federation (PBF) participated in the Belau Youth Sports Festival organized by the Palau National Olympic Committee (PNOC).

With the cancellation of the biennial Belau Youth Games that was slated to be played in June, PNOC decided to organize the Youth Sports Festival to encourage the return of sports in the country.

"Due to COVID-19, the various States of Palau and their Governors were not able to participate in the Games due to various reasons and priorities during this pandemic. PNOC still wanted to conduct a multi-sport event for the youth of Palau that has been stuck at home, social distancing, for a few months," shared PBF Secretary-General, Jubilee Kuartei.

"Individuals would register and PNOC would create 5 teams, based on the Olympic Ring Colors (in celebration of Olympic Day). Many sports organized camps over the summer, so their participants were divided into the five teams as well," she added.

Photo: 3x3 action during the Belau Youth Sports Festival

The Belau Youth Sports Festival slated from the 17th to 25th of July included a 3x3 competition organized in partnership between PNOC and PBF and  was held at the Seventh Day Adventist Church Elementary Basketball Gym in Koror.

"Because it's a festival, kids are encouraged to try other sports. Sports organizers have also been encouraged to modify competition and rules for younger age groups and to fit competition into a shorter period, so we decided to introduce 3x3 as the basketball event in the festival," Kuartei said.

The competition featured three divisions separated by age groups of 9-12 (5 teams), 13-15 (7 teams), 16-19 (6 teams) in a mixed format to accommodate all the players joining the tournament.

Kuartei shared that before the Sports Festival, the Federation coordinated a three-week Youth Basketball Leadership camp in preparation for the games.

Photo: 9-12-year-old participants of the Basketball Camp with the coaches

"We designed a Basketball Youth Camp for three weeks that was accompanied by a leadership workshop during the sessions. We educated the participants about character values and emphasized on having integrity, discipline and good attitude in becoming leaders," Kuartei shared.

The participants eventually joined the pool of participants for the Youth Sports Festival, which produced immediate and satisfying results according to Kuartei.

"The basketball camp was a success because it highlighted the kids who were in camp for the last three weeks. The level of competition is exciting, especially in the 9-12 division. It was great to watch the kids run pick and rolls during the games and apply the lessons they learned during camp," Kuartei proudly shared.

"We are happy to be able to participate in the sports festival because it provided an avenue for the youth to come back and play sports again. After the pandemic stopped everything, it was a good way for them to showcase their skills and learn other sports as well," she ended.

FIBA