DARU (Papua New Guinea) - The Basketball For Good program has been making waves of difference in Papua New Guinea, as much impact has it had with the communities it also great effects on its coaches, one of them is Jordan Sere.

Sere, an electrical engineering graduate started working directly with the Basketball Federation of Papua New Guinea (BFPNG) in January 2019.

"I've been heavily involved with basketball for 10-11 years - taking part in junior activities and also a member of a club in Port Moresby on one of the suburbs in Gerehu, the Gerehu Jets," shared the 26-year old.

"Stephen Damien and Patrick Ani from PNG approached me to expand their Hoops For Health and Mum's A Hero program to Daru where I was already involved in some of their junior programs so I said yes immediately," he added.

Daru is the capital of the Western Province of Papua New Guinea located in the mouth of the Fly River with a population of over 15,000 residents.

Despite the location from its capital Port Moresby, Sere shares that basketball is a popular sport in Daru and helps unite the communities together and also highlighted the effect of Mum's A Hero in their community.

"Basketball is a huge part of their culture, everyone is excited when somebody comes in to do something and the community gathers for the events," Sere said. "We get amazing stories from our Mum's A Hero program. They are happy to go out and play basketball because a lot of moms just stay in the house and prepare the food and all that stuff for their families so for them to be so enthusiastic about the program is inspiring to witness and makes a huge difference in the community."

The Basketball For Good programs is an Australian aid initiative implemented by Basketball Federation of Papua New Guinea on behalf of the Australian Government in cooperation of FIBA. 

Sere has successfully integrated the Mum's A Hero and Hoops For Health program in Daru and has shared that the latter has also produced national athletes for Papua New Guinea.

"The Hoops For Health program helped our kids with Daru being represented in the national level by being included in the PNG U17 team for the FIBA U17 Oceania in New Caledonia," he proudly shared.

"During our H4H program, I identified 10 talented kids and flew them to POM for trials and 5 was successful and came back for training camp and finally 2 made it to the final 12. It's a huge thing for Daru to get represented at the national level, we were more than happy, it's everything for us," he added.

The impact that the Basketball For Program has made in Daru is undeniable but Sere also shared how it gave his life purpose and a renewed commitment to basketball and his community.

"The community now see me as a role model and the kids in the suburb areas and so it has inspired me a lot. When you see little kids come up to you and tug your shirt and randomly say they like you or parents telling me that I am a great role model to the kids, it fills my heart," Sere shared.

"The smile of the kid's faces when they just get to shoot the ball just gives me so much happiness and makes me want to do even more for our community," he added.

The inspired Sere and the grateful community of Daru is hoping that the support and commitment of BFPNG will continue in the future to hopefully produce more national athletes and help women in the Daru become leaders in their communities.

"The Basketball For Good programs makes a huge difference in our communities. It keeps away the kids from smoking and drinking because if they are having fun on the courts they won't time for that stuff and our women staying healthy and happy is important too. So I hope the programs continue so we can continue making a difference too," he shared.

 FIBA