(KAITAIA) New Zealand - Meet Shelby Baker, a 12-year-old from Kaitaia with aspirations to become a basketballer and represent New Zealand.

Shelby is one of 25 Kaitaia Basketball Association volunteers who have offered their time to help with the organising of the FIBA Polynesia Cup 2022.  Shelby is volunteering at the tournament, with her teammates and also doing some fundraising on the side for a basketball trip where they will compete at the 2023 NZ Maori Nationals Tournament in Rotorua.

"Volunteering for FIBA is really amazing,” Shelby said.  “We are also raising money for our trip to the tournament, so it’s nice to be able to do that too.  We do not mind doing the on-court cleaning and mopping, we actually enjoy it.  For me, I love watching the Polynesian players play basketball in my hometown of Kaitaia.”

Throughout the tournament, volunteers ranging from 12 to 15-years-old, were bustling around the stadium tending to all the on and off court needs of the event.

Event organiser, Manuera Riwai could not be happier and feels privileged that the tournament was hosted in Kaitaia.

"When the host country, the Cook Islands, offered us the chance to co-host, we saw it as a great opportunity, we have struggles, and there was a time that we thought, if we could, but for us, it's a golden opportunity,” Riwai said.

Riwai see’s volunteering as the heart of community engagement and development.

"I think being a volunteer means that you have a heart that gives,” Riwai said.  “At the end of the day, you must have a heart that understands, and if you are willing to help each other, then things run smoothly.

Riwai acknowledges the hard-working tournament volunteers.  "The young children you have seen, cleaning the floor, some of them have actually taken their time out of school, to volunteer, making sure no player slips and hurts themselves."

"In modern living, you do work to get money, and get paid well.  I have seen that volunteering work is slowly eroding away, so getting more chances like this is very important.  We must bring back that cultural relationship, where we do not expect anything, but we the Polynesians must share something."

FIBA – Rula Su’a Vaai