Lautoka Basketball Competition Kicks Off!
The Lautoka Basketball League tournament kicked off with words of encouragement from the chief guest Commissioner of Police Mr. Iowane Naivaluwaqa, attending with Mike and Caroline Whippy.The weather was good on Saturday – wonderful sunshine, it had been raining all week. We had a visiting team from Suva – Knights.The Mens games were round robin basis, with the winner based on points gained. The Mens competition had 6 teams fielded as follows:
The Mens competition was a three way tussle for the $100 prize money between Knight, Mt Zion and Vikings. Vikings the 2008 Easter champs played their aces well in beating Knights 37-20, and then edging out Mt Zion 19-17 to claim the prize money.
The Season now commences with its weekly competition round 1 starts 20th Dec. Then 2 weeks break, round 1 to continue Jan 10th 09.
We have in the past hosted the Knights team for competitions and expect to do the same with other teams next year. The LBL is planning on having a national fitness 5 competition.
We only have a senior grade for the LBL competition and currently running a mini-ball program with Ricky Damuni and Emily Chambers every Saturday from 10am to 12pm.
We are aiming to have prizes for each round, we have no business houses sponsoring yet. Our finances are generated from our weekly competitions (gate takings) and the odd fundraisings now and then.
The aces for the Vikings team were current national reps Jale Vunisa and Peter Chambers. Also featuring for the team was point man Richard Olsen and the ever improving class 7 student Oscar Dunbar who have potential in making it to the national team.
The turn out started slow from the morning and then built to a festival atmosphere by mid-afternoon. The crowd stuck around till the last games between Vikings 2 and Knights 1 which Knights easily won28-22
The Womens competition is a bit slow to gather, even though we have 2 main teams that have played in the past seasons – Vikings (formerly Sugar Babes) and Hangten. There is interest from the Netball games and Vollyeball girls in joining the League which is what the League needs. This will improve the level of competition for the Ladies.
And to all those that are interested to join, call Simi on 9998873
SIMI CAGILABA
Comments
Comment Guidelines: The SportsTG Network is made up of players, families and passionate sports followers like you who have a strong opinion about sport. That's great - we want you to have your say and share your thoughts with the world. However, we have a few rules that you must follow to keep it fun for all. Please don't be rude, abusive, swear or vilify others. Apart from some pretty serious sport sanctions, we also can ban you and report you if things get out of hand. So play fair and have fun, and thanks for your contribution.