Train-on squad start tests

By PATRICIA KEAMO
THE national men’s basketball train-on squad tipped off preparations for next year’s Fiba Melanesia Cup, undergoing performance testing and screening at the Papua New Guinea High Performance Sport (PNGHPS) Centre in Port Moresby yesterday.
The Basketball Federation of PNG (BFPNG) has about a year to prepare the national teams before the tournament tips off in the Fijian capital of Suva next April.
The teams will be aiming to secure qualification for the 2023 Pacific Games and retain their title, having won the 2017 tournament as hosts.
BFPNG Hoops for Health coordinator Jordan Sere told The National yesterday that the Port Moresby-based players were doing their screening and testing at Sir John Guise Stadium while the Lae-based players would undergo similar tests at Lae’s PNGHPS Centre.
“The screening is for the national men’s and women’s train-on squads for the Melanesia Cup, which will be staged in Fiji in 2022,” he said.
“That’s the qualifier event for the Pacific Games.
“It’s an important event for BFPNG has taken the lead to start preparations early.
“Today’s screening will be for the women’s train-on squad and Saturday will be for the Under-17 development squad who are preparing for another event in Samoa in December. Once we finish from here, we get the players to undergo an induction ceremony before tipping off training.
The U17 national championships will be held from July 2 during the second term school holiday and the open men’s and women’s (5×5 nationals) tournaments will be held in September.
“But all of that is subject to Covid-19 restrictions and the Niupla Pasin protocol.
Selection for the final squads is up to the president and BFPNG board.”
Meanwhile PNGHPS performance manager Armstrong Meli said BFPNG’s screening and tests were similar to those conducted for Team PNG earlier this month.
“We’re just looking at a holistic approach for screening their nutrition, physiotherapy, psychology and physical tests as well,” he said.