Basketball promises more in ’17

By ISAAC LIRI
THIS year promises to be a year of progress for basketball in Papua New Guinea according to chief executive officer of the federation Joel Khalu.
Appointed to office last year in March, Khalu referred to 2016 as challenging yet enjoying and is already positioned achieve the goals set for 2017.
Acknowledging re-elected president Nick Daroa, vice-president Karo Lelai for welcoming him to the country, Khalu said he would not have made it through the year without their support including other members of the office including volunteers.
“We successfully relaunched our national federation at an event held in April last year,” Khalu said.
“Not only did we unveil new logos and branding but also we made known our new mission and vision.
“These were well received by those in attendance and combined with our new theme ‘Changing the Game’ things got moving in the right direction,” the Queenslander said.
Khalu referred to 2016 as a year which the federation had laid the foundation by developing a strong community engagement with its programmes strengthening the grassroots level such as the innovative partnership with the Papua New Guinea Australian Policing Partnership (PNG-APP) and the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary (RPNGC) which was the catalyst for the Hoops for Health (H4H) programme.
With that successfully rolled out last year Khalu said they would continue on from where they left off.
Khalu took time out to thank partners (state, corporate and foreign) who played a major role in the shaping of the code in the country and he believed they would provide the similar support again this year.
“I would like to thank all of our partners, in particular the International Basketball Foundation (IBF), FIBA, PNGSF, PNGOC and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) for their ongoing support.
“2017 is certainly shaping up to be an exciting year for BFPNG with the federation’s dynamic new strategic plan now finalised, there is a lot for those involved in the sport to be enthusiastic about.
“We are very much looking forward to growth across many areas and developing the sport throughout this great country,” Khalu said.