Basketball for the Under 22

Fiji Basketball Association wants to use next month's national Under 22 Championships to iron out potential talent for the 2010 FIBA Oceania Youth tournament in New Caledonia.

FBA development officer Laisiasa Puamau said a U20 men and women side would represent the country in New Caledonia. He believes the exposure would be fruitful for FBA development plans.

Puamau said Oceania regions top guns Australia and New Zealand will take part of the tournament.

"Australia, NZ and the rest of the Pacific countries will be taking part. This tournament is a stepping stone for us and hopefully in three to four years we would be able to compete with teams like Australia.

"To be the best you have to play with the best. This has been our slogan," Puamau said.

The development officer would coach the men side while Poseci Moce takes over the women.

He said the local tournaments would play a vital role in their preparation. The Raiwaqa Basketball Players Association and BFA are working together to stage the national U22 championship which will be held on October 10-12 at Eds Court.

"The U22 tournament next month is important as we will be looking at potential talent for the national team. It will also set a platform for us to work from," Puamau said.

He said they opted for a U22 tournament to raise the standard of competition.

"Having a U22 competition allows more players to take part which will make it competitive.

We will be also including last years U20 side," he said.

Meanwhile Puamau said they were also hoping to have a Christmas club competition in Lautoka which would mark the end of the season for BFA.

The Fiji Sun Online

Monday 14th September, 2009

By Moiz Munif




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