Navy personnel from the visiting United States, Australia and New Zealand Navy ships took an afternoon out with sports this week.

At the Lawson Tama Stadium, matches were played by the New Zealand, Australian and US Navy up against the SIFF Titans social football club.

At the Lawson Tama outdoor netball courts the Australian and US Navy also played matches against the Solomon Islands national netball women’s team.

The highlight sports event of the day was the friendly matches between the US Navy against the Solomon Islands basketball squad.

The squad played a second match against a mixed team comprising of US, New Zealand and Australian Navy at the Multipurpose Hall.

For the visiting Navy friends it was all about fun and making friends with the locals through sports.

For the Solomon Islands squads, it is part of their preparation for the upcoming sports competitions which will be held abroad.

Basketball will compete at the Melanesian Basketball Championship which serves as the Pacific Games Qualifiers while netball is preparing for the Mini Pacific Games in December.

Organizers of these events thanked the visiting Navy for being part of their preparations.

Ends/// By CARLOS ARUAFU of SOLOMON STAR Sports