Kiribati celebrates Olympic Day with historic 3x3 tournament

KIRIBATI -- The Kiribati Basketball Federation (KBF) made history on June 23 as they organized the first Inter-Primary 3x3 Basketball tournament in South Tarawa.

The  island nation celebrated Olympic Day with a groundbreaking 3x3 tournament for Class 6 students featuring 10 boys teams and seven girls teams from various primary schools in Kiribati.

"For the first time through KBF and the Hoops for Health program, we organized a tournament for kids from different primary schools which is the biggest event officially recognized by the government of Kiribati," said Tokintemate "Maate" Arobati, Sport Adminstrator of Kiribati Basketball Federation.

"We saw a lot of kids with improved basketball skills and the interest with the sport is at an all-time high. The participation of the kids is increasing rapidly compared to past years when only a few understood and know what basketball is, now we have schools joining the tournaments we organize," he proudly added.

The Micronesian state with a population of over 110,000 has been ramping up their basketball activities in recent years and the Class 6 3x3 Tournament is a great barometer of their continued commitment to the sport of basketball.

In celebration of Olympic Day, they focused on 3x3 basketball which is going to be an offical discipline for the 2020 Summer Olympics. KBF included a "Free Throw shooting contest" and gave everyone who made a basket, a free tshirt to encourage more participants to enjoy the festivities.

"We had a total of 68 kids that participated in the tournament with 10 Boys teams and seven Girls teams that registered in the event maker. These children were chosen by their teachers and Hoops for Health Coaches during their visit to Primary Schools throughout the country," said Maate.

"KBF is extremely happy with the turnout because in previous years we only had Inter-Junior and Secondary Schools for ages 13-18 and to successfully organize this 7-12 age group tournament is a historic achievment for our country," he added.

FIBA Oceania Development Manager, Annie LaFleur shared KBF's enthusiasm with Kiribati's continued commitment to the game and believes that basketball is a great sport for the country.

"We are very delighted with the recent activities of the Kiribati Basketball Federation and the government with regards to their commitment to the development of Basketball,"  said LaFleur, a former WNBA Player.

"Basketball is a great vehicle to build communities and promote a healthy lifestyle and FIBA Oceania's office is open for future projects with KBF and the government," she added.

With the success of the Olympic Day tournament, the Kiribati Basketball Federation are more determined to push for more basketball projects to help develop the sport in the country.

"We plan to do more Hoops for Health program in the years to come and we expand to the outer islands of Kiribati and invite more primary schools to join our future event," said Maate.

"Our government and KBF is looking forward to more kids participating in future events. The sport of basketball can also promote a healthy lifestyle and we can also hopefully develop our youth for future international competitions," he ended.