FIBA Oceania celebrates 44th anniversary

COFFS HARBOUR (FIBA Oceania) - FIBA Oceania on Sunday celebrated its 44th anniversary. Let's take a quick look at how it all began.

In 1968, the Oceania Basketball Confederation - as it was then known - had been several years in the making thanks, in large part to Australian Al Ramsay and the late Sir Lance Cross from New Zealand.

In spite of only five countries from the Pacific region being members of FIBA at the time (Australia, New Zealand, Tahiti, Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu), Ramsay and Cross believed in the potential of uniting under a broader Oceania organisation, including almost 20 basketball associations from the South Pacific Sports Council, all of them with active Basketball Associations.

The Constitution and By-Laws for an Oceania Zone were voted and approved by its members in June, but it could only become a member of FIBA once approved by the FIBA Congress, which would be held during the 1968 Mexico Olympic Games from 12-27 October.

On 21 October, the FIBA Congress took place and thanks to the sustained efforts of Ramsay and Cross, FIBA Oceania officially voted in as a member of FIBA.

Incidentally, the 1968 Congress also affirmed FIBA's decision to build its own headquarters, which are set to be officially inaugurated within the coming year.

In the years that followed the birth of FIBA Oceania, membership grew rapidly and the structure allowed many more of the regions countries and territories to join the list of FIBA's National Federations.

In the first 10 years of FIBA Oceania's life, Guam, New Caledonia and American Samoa joined the original five members.

By its 20th birthday - that is to say by 1988, after Fiji, Northern Marianas, Samoa, Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Solomon Islands, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Tonga, Tuvalu, Palau and Norfolk Island had been admitted to FIBA mmebership, FIBA Oceania had reached its present complement of 21 members.

FIBA Oceania and the sport of basketball in the region have come a long way since those early days in 1968.

Happy Birthday FIBA Oceania.

FIBA Oceania/FIBA