Samoan Independence Day celebrated in style

APIA - The 54^th Samoan Independence Day has been celebrated in style, with teams from Samoa, American Samoa and New Zealand coming together in early June to compete in the 'Samoa Independence International Tournament' held in Apia, Samoa.

Independence Day, which is celebrated on the 1^st June each year, marks the independence of Samoa from New Zealand in 1962 and is a widely celebrated day throughout the nation.

People were coming from all over Samo to catch a glimpse of the action. The Samoan Basketball Federation (SNBF) saw crowds of over 500 people each night during the event, which included six local teams, four teams from American Samoa and one team from New Zealand. The event was opened with a traditional Ava Ceremony and a prayer by President Tuia followed by a speech given by Mr Patrick Fepuleai - President of Samoa Sports.

In the Under 18 divisions, NZ Samoa overcame Samoa in the girls final, whilst in the boys final, American Samoa narrowly edged out Samoa in a close finale.

The open division men's a women's comeptitions were played as a best of three series between American Samoa and Samoa. Samoa was able to protect their home floor in the men, whilst American Samoa women were too much for Samoa in a hard fought series.

Samoa Open men team with their coach Vai Tominiko (left) and manager Henry Wulf (right)

SNBF president Tala Pauga commented on the importance of the tournament in developing the games of local youths.

"We see this [tournament] as the beginning of a long-term journey to develop the young athletes," said Pauga. "The opportunity to teach the fundamentals of the game while the athletes are young and expose them to international games is very important."

"Both Samoa's - American Samoa and Samoa are putting this long term plan together in order to develop and promote the games at grass root levels," continued Pauga. "Not only for players but also to have good qualified coaches."

FIBA Oceania President Burton Shipley was equally enthusiastic about the importance of such events. 

"These events provide an opportunity to showcase the best of basketball to the local communities," he said. "Any opportunity where we can bring together national teams at all ages is an important one - we want to inspire the next generation of basketballers and to run such an event over such a historic date in Samoan history is fantastic exposure for the SNBF."

This tournament followed a similar tournament held in American Samoa for the American Samoa Flag Day. This event saw teams from Samoa travel to play against local teams within American Samoa.

Not being content with just two tournaments between the nations, a further two events will take place at the start of 2017. The first of which being the Samoa Cup taking place January 2017 in Auckland, New Zealand, followed by another event scheduled for April in American Samoa.

FIBA