Good signs on court

BASKETBALL Fiji is happy with the improvement shown by the schools that participated in the four-day long Twisties National Secondary Schools Basketball Championship. Development officer Laisiasa Puamau said the 17 schools that graced the Ed's and Vodafone Arena courts earlier this week displayed a splendid performance.

He said they were happy to note their development programs run over the past years had been bearing fruits. "Overall we are pleased at the way tournament was run. The level of competition has been high and the event was a success," Puamau said. 

However, the former national rep said there were a lot of areas they could improve on to make the annual event better in the upcoming years. He said plans were in pipeline to add more events during the championship to bolster the level of competition.

"During the championship, we have identified areas where lot of improvement could be done to make the event much better," Puamau said. "Things like having an awards night maybe in the future and other areas we can improve on to help in the development of the sport."

Puamau said they were also impressed with the performance of the four newcomers in this year's competition.

He said hopes were high more schools would be joining in next year. Puamau added plans were also in place to get Vanua Levu based schools involved in the championship.

"Our major drawback is lack of funds which has hindered the development of sport in Vanua Levu. But help of corporate companies like Twisties taking the sport to other islands can be realistic in the future." Meanwhile, Puamau has thanked sponsor Twisties, STOP HIV and the Fiji Police Force for helping in the running of the competition.

"We would like to applause the support of the teachers who sacrificed their time during the holiday and the referees and coaches for their help."