Photo: Paradise Ball in Apia, Samoa

SAMOA -- Samoa Basketball Federation welcomes their new National Basketball Development Officer, Savaia Uputaua Iupeli to the fold to take on the role of administering and planning the federation's projects.

Iupeli, 39 years old previously held the Tournament Director for East Basketball League post in Apia and will bring his wealth of experience to the development of basketball.

"My goal is to lift up the standard of basketball in Samoa and develop the interest of the Samoan people to the sport," shared Iupeli.

The former Navu Basketball Club member also fonly called "Upu" shared that his plan is to focus on the grassroots program of Samoa Basketball

"My first step is to focus on the young generation and train them to be better basketball players in the future," said Iupeli.

"Right now we have the Paradise Ball program that encourages young people to try and take up basketball," he added.

FIBA Oceania Development Manager, Annie LaFleur welcomed Iupeli to SBF and shared that she has high hopes for the new NBDO officer.

"First of all we want to thank Linda for her services and we wish her luck in her future endeavors. Upu has been associated with Samoa basketball for a long time, we hope he can use his experience to his advantage and we can help each other developing basketball in the country," said LaFleur.

The national teams of Samoa are lined up for tournaments in the upcoming months and Iupeli bared that they are doing their best to prepare their teams for the competitions.

"We are working really hard with the team manager to set up camps and prepare our teams for the Poly Cup, the FIBA U15 Oceania, and Samoa Cup in the next few months. Next year's Pacific Games will be very huge for us which Samoa will host," shared the Samoa native.