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Annual 2015 Mosooi Basketball Tournament kicks off

Developing skills and knowledge for young people in American Samoa to become good athletics in the future is the main purpose behind the annual 2015 Mosooi Basketball Tournament, which will kicked-off Saturday at the Catholic gym in Malaeloa. The American Samoa Basketball Association (ASBA) hosts it.

 

“This is a good chance for all of our young people who are interested in the sport to come together and show their skills… so that they will continue to learn more about basketball,” said Paul Amituana’i, who is the Tournament Coordinator for the ASBA.

 

“This year’s tournament will also feature some of our local basketball players, who represented American Samoa at the 2015 Pacific Games in Papua New Guinea this year in both men and women’s team,” said Amituana’i.

 

Some of these players include Shane Ah Ping, Talanoa Smith, Pele Jr Tui, Junior Luvu, TJ Leota and Fiti Talaeai, who played in the men’s basketball team, and Teriana Lavatai, Kadrenna Velega and Val Talamoni, who played for the women’s team.

 

American Samoa women’s basketball team won silver at the XV Pacific Games this year, after narrowly losing to the mighty Fiji team, while our men’s team place 5th in the overall tournament.

 

Amituana’i, one of the two local Sports Officials for the XV Pacific Games in PNG told Samoa News that the experience that our national players has with the sport will help our new and young players to do better in the future.

 

“I know there’s a lot of good players out there who can help our young youth to develop the sport, and with the skills and the experience they have, I think more young players will love to join the sport and continue to play,” said Amituana’i.

 

Amituana’i and Allen Fuimaono are the two local Sports Officials who are now certified by the Pacific Games Basketball Association, and will continue to be a part of the Pacific Games, as Sports Officials and Referees.

 

The tournament will be divided into three divisions — Men, Women and Young Kids.

 

Sixteen teams will be vying for the championship in the men’s division, including the Ninjaz Club who was the 2014 championship, while 8 teams will be competing in the women’s division and 3 teams for the Young Kids division.

 

According to the ASBA, this is the first time they have 8 teams for the women’s division, and to start a league for the young kids in the island.

 

“Our main goal that was set by the ASBA President, Mr. Milton Taufa’asau and the ASBA Board, is for us to have more women’s teams to be involve in all of our local tournaments each year, so that we can get a chance to select more women to our national teams, and let them be the role models for the young ones,” said Amituana’i.

 

One of the goals for the ASBA is to select a good team to represent American Samoa at the Women’s 2017 Asia Championship in China.

 

“Our other goal is to start a league for the young youth, not only to let them be part of our every tournament, but this is a good chance for them to develop their skills and knowledge in sports,” said Amituana’i.

 

“We want to see more youngsters involved in basketball and every other sport, and if we can teach them well and show them the right way to play, there will be a good chance for them to get scholarship off island, or to be part of our national team in the future,” he concluded.

 

INTERVIEWS

 

Samoa News interviewed some of our local basketball players who were a part of the men’s team in PNG.

 

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