Planning for U15 meet in progress

By ISAAC LIRI
PLANNING for the U15 Fiba Oceania Championships in December is underway, says Basketball Federation of Papua New Guinea (BFPNG) executive officer Stephen Damien.
Damien said to ensure that the tournament was a success, BFPNG would be involving stakeholders like the PNG Sports Foundation, police, National Sports Trust Limited and the PNG Olympic Committee.
Damien said the foundation would assist with logistics, marketing, events and government processes for the visiting teams.
He said the police had been alerted about providing security during the championships.
Damien said they were working with local television companies to ensure live coverage of the games.
“We plan on having the games broadcast live on TV and over the radio,” Damien said.
“We are in talks with two organisations regarding this.
“We are also live streaming the event on Fiba’s YouTube channel, which has over 500,000 subscribers.
“This will reach our viewers in the region.
“The competitions will start at 12pm each day and the main event will begin at 6pm.
“At this stage, we plan on having PNG men and women play all the main games.”
The tournament scheduled to be hosted at the Taurama Aquatic and Indoor Centre from Dec 4-8 will feature Australia, New Zealand, Samoa, Fiji, Tonga and Guam, who will be fielding a male team only.
The tournament is also a qualifier for the Fiba Asia U16 Championships next year.
The Fiba Asia U16 Championships are a qualifier for the Fiba U17 World Basketball Cup in 2020.
All visiting teams are scheduled to arrive in Port Moresby on Dec 1, with referees and the sides to reside at the University of Papua New Guinea’s Games Village.