Support for basketball has declined so much that both fans and players are looking for what to do.
I have a passion for basketball because it is a sport I play with some regularity. And although, soccer remains my prized passion, I take a very active interest in seeing basketball improve.
Telekom Men’s Basketball Team recently collaborated with D.Fenders Basketball Club to initiate the Our Telekom Easter Basketball Challenge.
Interest has reached an all time high and the first day of competition on the 5th of April 2009 reassured me that there must still be some hope in reviving this once thriving sport.
But it will take a lot more than just Easter tournaments to revive the sport. It would take people with the vision who will sacrifice time, effort and even money to see it grow.
Our team is small, a make up of unlikely individuals but all who seem to share the passion for basketball. Long time basketball administrator and Manager of Pacific Architects, Don Boykin; my sister and current national basketball player, Lysa Wini; Ryan Burns the FIBA Oceania Zone Development Officer and myself – the ‘geek’. We represent the two clubs.
Our Telekom has seen value in supporting the two clubs initiate this Easter tournament. Building vibrant, trustworthy relationships with business houses is crucial to the success of any sport. I would love to think we are beginning to establish those relationships and hopefully we will soon see the fruition of our efforts.
Our Telekom has also sponsored a competition website on http://basketball.solomon.com.sb, a first of its kind which I had taken a lot of time to build after hours. But according to Google Analytics; it has certainly attracted some hits within the last few days I registered it on Google Analytics. Most traffic is local which is what Our Telekom would have been happy about but we have had hits from Fiji, Australia, New Zealand and the United States of America. Average time spent on the website is now increasing to 12 minutes; small but significant statistics.
What has inspired me most is the enthusiasm by some people for the tournament. Welaiasi is a team that has impressed me most with its competitive spirit, its fans and level of organization. For this tournament, the team has found major sponsors Silentworld supporting it. The secret to reviving basketball may well lie in the enthusiasm of people like those in the Welaiasi team.
What of SIBF and HBL? We could wait on these two organizations and ultimately find ourselves waiting for a very long time. So in times like this, it would take a little extra effort and money to break the Easter egg.