Last week was a busy time for Basketball Fiji!

Through the Hoops for Health (H4H) program, Special Schools program and an early celebration of World Children’s Day Basketball Fiji ran basketball skills clinics for over 1,100 children in seven different schools.

Basketball Fiji’s Chief Operating Officer Laisiasa Puamau said it shows that Fijian children not only love sport but have a particular hunger for basketball.

“Last week we had coaches travelling from school to school to ensure no one missed out, I saw an opportunity to step in and see what is happening on the ground,” he said.

“I took a session at Vatuwaqa Primary School and I saw just how much the students want to play basketball.”

“We ran the clinic on the school ground, with our portable hoop and received the warmest welcome from the students with offers to help set up the clinic in the hope of starting some ball work sooner,” he said.  

“On Friday alone, we had Basketball Fiji staff and coaches out at 5 different schools, all at the same time. To me, that shows our sport is growing rapidly and that makes us all very excited,” he said.

This term, Basketball Fiji is largely focusing on primary school aged children with the H4H program and hoping to build the love of the sport from an early age.

“If we can continue to build the numbers and develop the skills in basketball, we will have a larger and more skilled basketball family. This means we can continue to proudly represent our country on the basketball world stage and make a truly positive difference to the children in our community through basketball,” he said.

The Hoops for Health (H4H) program is funded by the Australian Government through the Pacific Sports Partnership Program and with continued support from FIBA.