BFPNG

Hosted at the Taurama Aquatic & Indoor Centre, the 2K Tigers dominated the competition, winning four-straight pool games by double-digit margins before heading into the tournament finals.

In the team’s quarter-final match-up, they accounted for Titans #4, 21-2.

In their semi-final, they beat PBV2 #2, 18-7 and rounded out a clean sweep by crushing Goroka in the grand-final, 22-4.

Each Wednesday for the past three-weeks, children between the ages of eight and 12 have been coming together for the Basketball Federation of Papua New Guinea’s (BFPNG) Pikinini Hoops program.

Not only are kids being taught fundamental skills like dribbling, passing and shooting, they’re also learning important life values including friendship, teamwork and enjoying their sport.

It comes at a time with yesterday being the United Nations International Day of Sport for Development and Peace.

The new Pikinini Hoops program gets underway at the Taurama Aquatic and Indoor Centre (TAIC).

Pikinini Hoops will run from 5:30pm to 6:30pm each Wednesday for the next four-weeks, with the program focusing on skills development for children aged 8 to 12.

Along with the basketball action, the 60-minute sessions will include education on making healthy lifestyle choices.

BFPNG Chief Executive Officer, Joel Khalu said the program was a great way for young kids to have fun and improve on their sporting abilities.

CEO of the BFPNG, Joel Khalu said two days prior to that, 30 people took part in the Oceania Sports Education Program (OSEP) Community Coach and Official course, a record 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.

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

The competition is part of the six unique programs of Basketball Federation of Papua New Guinea’s Hoops For Health (H4H) community engagement program designed to strategically educate and promote the basketball.

The Mixed Corporate and Social Basketball Competition was an invitation for businesses and organisations to be part of the program to educate and promote the game.