Edupia eyes b'ball growth

EDUPIA Fiji Limited - in partnership with the Fiji Basketball Federation - is keen to develop basketball in the Western Division.

EFL which is a cultural and educational centre for Koreans staged a two-day competition at the CAAFI courts in Namaka, Nadi, targeting children in the Under-15 and U18 grades. A total of 12 teams entered the tournament which concluded on Saturday last week. Youngsters of Lautoka and Edupia of Nadi won the U18 and U16 grades respectively.

Basketball Fiji development officer Laisiasa Puamau said the aim of the tournament was to engage the participants through basketball at a competitive level. He said EFL not only brought in Korean students for education but investors as well. "We are proud to partner with EFL with the goal to increase number of players throughout the Viti Levu area," Puamau said. "This is the first tournament to be played here since 2007. We are grateful to Sunyung Kwon the managing director of EFL for sponsoring the tournament. The teams in both grades played in the round robin format."

"It was encouraging to see Namoli from Lautoka enter the event. The club started off with the senior side in the Eastern Championship. Now they are focussing on the age group level. There were attractive cash prizes for the winners and individual performances.

Puamau said the event was successful and he thanked the participants for that. "Although we experienced rain, the event turned out to be very successful and we thanked the participants for making it a success."

The teams in the U16 grade included Mount Zion, Namoli, Youngsters, Nauru and Edupia. In the U18 division the teams that participated included Mount Zion, Namoli, Cougars, Nauru and Edupia.

Prizes: U18-winner ($150, trophy); runner-up $100; best player $40; highest scorer $30; top rebounder, most assists, most disciplined player, highest steals $20 each.

U16 winner $100, trophy; runner-up $50; best player $40; highest scorer $30; top rebounder, most assists, most disciplined player, highest steals $20 each.

Article from the Fiji Times Newspaper on Monday 12th December 2011