Fiji U15 team participate in Voices of Athletes program
Basketball Fiji helped their U15 team prepare for the responsibilities as representatives of their country.
FIJI --The U15 Fiji national youth team with the help of Basketball Fiji (BF) participated in the Voices of Athletes program run by The Fiji Association of Sports and National Olympics Committee (FASANOC) to prepare the team in their responsibilities as representatives of their country.
"The VOA’s main goal is to go out to various sporting federations, communities and schools to advocate on "Be a leader, Play True, Play Safe and Go Green," said Fiji U15 Team Manager William Qounadovu.
"The main purpose of our visit was to get our boys to understand the values of the VOA programme as this is the first time they will be representing Fiji in an international Tournament," he added.
Qounadovu shared that several members of BF are already part of the program including Chief Operating Officer Laisiasa Puamau, coach Seini Samson and himself.
"Basketball Fiji is an affiliated member of FASANOC, so every year the Voices of Athletes recruits few national athletes from each sporting federation," shared Qounadovu.
"When athletes join the VOA program they then become accredited as VOA Champions. As champions their roles are to go back to their national federation and advocate on the values of VOA," he added.
FIBA Competitions Manager, Amanda Jenkins shared her elation with BF's initiative of preparing the national U15 team as representatives of the country.
"We are very happy with BF's initiative of preparing their U15 team in terms of representing their country. It's the first time we will have this age group competition and it's a good chance for them to be great ambassadors for Fiji," said Jenkins.
Qounadovu shared that BF wants the players to expand their horizon and believes basketball is a great tool to train young leaders for the future generation.
"For the past few months of preparation we have been encouraging our players not only to train hard so that we reach our goal but encourage them to become successful athletes and great role models not only in our Basketball federation but Fiji as a whole," he said.
"Fiji Under 15 Management is grateful to be part of the VOA program because it has set a platform for our players to understand the things any athlete should know while preparing and participating in an International Tournament," he ended