Thirty-nine participants attended the Basketball Federation of Papua New Guinea (BFPNG) Hoops for Health coaching course held yesterday at the Taurama Aquatic & Indoor Centre, while on the two days prior, thirty people took part in the Oceania Sports Education Program (OSEP) Community Coach & Official course, the most-ever for a course of this type held in PNG.

“The attendance numbers definitely displayed that there was a real interest and need for courses of this nature to be held,” BFPNG Chief Executive Officer Joel Khalu said.

“We’re extremely happy that we had so many people commit to attending both courses and make the most of this wonderful development opportunity.”

Over the three-days, participants were exposed to learning modules including communication, fitness, nutrition, organization, risk assessment & safety, while also hitting the courts to discover more on the sport’s fundamental skills of ball handling, dribbling, defence, passing & shooting.

Mr. Jordan Sere, who flew in from Daru to attend the workshop in Port Moresby said, “I am (feeling) confident and well equipped with the knowledge gained from this brilliant programme. The next step is to implement it with all the juniors back home in the province and watch it grow from strength to strength.”

BFPNG CEO Joel Khalu reiterated that message and the importance of growing the federation’s coaching network regionally.

“We had a real diverse group of coaches come along from associations, churches, clubs, schools and teams based all over PNG,” Khalu said.

“BFPNG are certainly looking forward to seeing the positive outcomes of this course being spread throughout basketball courts all over the nation.”

The Hoops for Health coaching course and OSEP Community Coach & Official course were delivered in collaboration through BFPNG, FIBA, the Papua New Guinea Olympic Committee and Papua New Guinea Sports Foundation High Performance department. 

Hoops for Health is funded by the Australian Government’s Pacific Sports Partnerships initiative.

For more information please contact BFPNG Chief Executive Officer Joel Khalu on khalujoel@gmail.com.