Basketball has a small following in the Pacific but at the recent Polynesian Games held in Auckland it was obvious that the sport is growing.

The Polynesian Games is an Oceania endorsed tournament and it was the first time that the tournament had ever been held in New Zealand. Micronesia and Melanesia hold their own regional tournaments, which are usually held as a forerunner to the South Pacific Games.

The last Polynesian Games was held in 1995 and it was at this event that New Zealand volunteered to host the next one.

Basketball New Zealand CEO, David Crocker said it was important to endorse the tournament.

“This is an exciting time for BBNZ. We hope that this will provide an important step forward in terms of role modeling and more importantly to enhance basketball throughout New Zealand. This initiative will certainly bring about a positive development for basketball as a whole.”

The Manukau - Counties Basketball Association was asked to organise the event - a logical choice says Organising Committee Member, Georgie Witehira.

“We have such a large diverse cultural mix in Manukau and we also have the facilities with the Otara Recreation Centre and Alan Brewster Centre. It is a good opportunity for local basketball.”

The competition included eight men’s teams and six women’s teams from Samoa, the Cook Islands as well as New Zealand based teams.

American Samoa was scheduled to compete but pulled out at the last minute due to a lack of funds.

Samoa brought over a men’s team but used New Zealand based players to make up their women’s and development squads.

The President of Basketball in Samoa, Lupematasila Te’o Sam Te’o says attending this tournament was imperative.

“It is really important for Samoa and other Island countries to attend because there is not that much experience in the Pacific. In order to improve the game we need as much International game experience as possible.”

 
Tonga was not able to send a team to the tournament but opted instead to allow their New Zealand association to organise a team. Trials were held and men’s and women’s teams were selected.

Tongan Captain, Robson Tavita says finding Tongan players were a challenge.

“Basketball is not a strong sport in Tonga so we had to get the word out and try and find players with Tongan ancestry. We held trials over a couple of weeks and found some good players.”

Cook Island women’s Coach, Louisa Tekaro had players from both the Cook Islands and New Zealand but most were very young and inexperienced.

“We used this tournament as a build up to the Oceania tournament Under 22 Tournament to be held in July. Not many of the girls have played before so we felt it was important they had some international experience to see what they would be up against.”

The Majority of teams were New Zealand based and included a few Maori development teams, which were heavily supported by Basketball New Zealand.

“BBNZ has shown great vision in initiating the evolvement of Maori basketball. This move gives our people the opportunity to further their skills, to be involved in international basketball and aspire to be better,” says Jeff Green, the Coach of the Waikato Men’s National Basketball Team.

The tournament proved a big success with some good games being played and some close scores - something the Oceania Basketball Federation is pleased with.

“In this region, this year’s Polynesian Games is the best one yet and I hope there will be more teams in the future when they hear how successful it has been,” says Oceania Basketball President, Al Ramsay.

The winner of the men’s section was the Maori Tall Blacks and the Maori Tall Ferns beat Samoa in the women’s final.

The host for the next Polynesian Games has yet to be decided.
 

Copyright Event Polynesia Ltd. 2004