David Peter, who is the President of Basketball Federation of Papua New Guinea (BFPNG), has confirmed that Riwi Rindi village in the Ialibu-Pangia District of Southern Highlands Province would host the All-Star National Basketball Championship from September 13th-17th, 2024.
After seven years of hosting the national championship in the urban centers, especially in Port Moresby, Riwi Rindi will become the first rural village in the country to have an opportunity in staging one of the biggest sporting events in BFPNG’s calendar.
Riwi Rindi also had the opportunity to host the inaugural Kewabi, Epari, Kuare Unity Basketball Tournament earlier this year in February, so the village has the experience and facilities to hold national sporting events, basketball in particular.
More than 30 teams (both male & female) are expected to converge at Riwi Rindi village to showcase their skills and compete for one week to claim the coveted championship in the men’s and women’s divisions.
In line with Papua New Guinea Sports Foundation’s (PNGSF) ‘Go Rural to Go Global’ (GRtGG) strategy, that signature concept will be trialed and implemented at Riwi Rindi village, and later rolled out to other rural communities.
The Marape-Rosso Government, through the Sports Ministry and PNGSF, are taking a bottom-up approach to execute and implement the Go Rural to Go Global program in all the sporting codes across the country.
BFPNG President, David Peter, stated that he was overwhelmed to see for the first time a rural village in PNG would get an opportunity to host the All-Star National Basketball Championship.
“We are thrilled to bring the championship to Riwi village. This event will not only showcase the talents we have across the nation, but also promote the development of the sport (basketball) within Southern Highlands Province,” President Peter expressed.
With a few weeks to go before the All-Star National Basketball Championship kicks off from September 13th-17th in Riwi Rindi village, the participating teams are training hard to refine their skills in preparation for the national tournament.
PC: Kewapi Unity Basketball Tournament fb
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