Barbarians point guard Josaia Cabelawa is a talented sportsman. The Barbarians team is actually the Shaq Attaq side but had their team name changed when they joined the Raiwaqa Bas-ketball Association. Cabelawa was first introduced to basketball about 10 years ago. It was after watching others play that he decided to give it a go and has not stopped since. The ex-Suva Grammar student does not only play basketball but is quite a multi-talented individual. He also plays volleyball for the Raiwaqa Grovers and touch rugby for the Kings Touch team. Basketball is a minority sport in Fiji but with the development programs put in place, the sport is starting to gain prominence and team numbers are increasing. "It is slow progress but we have been able to get a lot of young students, especially in the Raiwaqa area because we have our training programs at Ed's court," said Cabelawa. Cabelawa, 23, works at Bad Dog CafÚ. He has two brothers and a sister. Both brothers are also basketball players. Kelepi Ledua, 25, plays for Boston while Henry Alfonso aka Rex plays for the young Mighty Mights. Raiwaqa can be labelled as a b'balling area because almost every youngster plays basketball. You can hear the ball being bounced hard against the concrete court as players run too and fro in wild motions. They are either dodging other players or spinning on their toes in highly glossy basketball shoes. "We have the junior training program every Satur-day morning helping out with the boys and girls," Cabelawa said. The Junior Training Program is run by Basketball Fiji assistant development officer Nicholas Wong. The Barbarians are the reigning champs from last year's Easter Championship and Cabelawa is training hard for the coming tournament next month. "Shaq Attaq will definitely win the Easters again this year," he said with a confident smile.

Source: The Fiji Times Online

Monday 1st of March, 2010