Goodman Fielder announced their eighth year of continued partnership with Basketball Fiji by sponsoring the Tuckers National Secondary School Basketball Championship.

The sponsorship is aimed to provide a platform for students to showcase their talents with the opportunity of further development.

Goodman Fielder general manager, Chris Zaayman thanked Basketball Fiji for creating such event for students of Fiji who may be looking at pursing their careers in sporting.

“We take pride in our continuous support for sports development in the country, in the schools and communities. We are happy to support this year’s championship with a sponsorship worth of $20, 000,” he said.

Zaayman also announced the Tuckers Fiji Secondary Schools Basketball Championship would be held at the Lautoka Multipurpose Courts from August 15-16.

Basketball Fiji chief operations officer, Laisiasa Puamau thanked Tuckers Ice Cream for their contribution towards sports development.

“The partnership that started in 2009 has seen a great return in investment both to Goodman fielder and Basketball Fiji.

“We’ve seen an increase in interest from secondary school students who now play the sport in Fiji. We’ve seen students from ACS and Marist Brothers High School having basketball scholarships to the US,” he said.

Puamau added this year marks a historical occasion for Basketball Fiji and Goodman Fielder as it would be held in the West and he assured the sponsorship would be put to good use.

“The furthest that will be traveling to compete in this year’s event is St John’s College from Levuka. This will be the first time that we will be holding an event to Lautoka to spread the awareness of the sport to the west,” he said.

The two-day event will see teams representing schools in Tailevu, Suva, Nadi, Lautoka and Ba.

The schools include, Adi Cakobau School, Saint John’s College, Xavier College, Ba Provincial Freebird Institute, Natabua High School, Jasper Williams High School, Nadi International, Swami Vivekanananda College, Marist Brothers High School, Yat Sen Secondary School, Suva Grammar School, Cathedral High School, Gospel High School, Latter Day Saints College, J Narayan College, John Wesley College, International Secondary School and Saint Joseph Secondary School.

The Fiji Sun Newspaper

22 July 2016