Raiwaqa (pronounced "rywonga" is comparable in the US to Compton or Harlem, in that there are many kids in that neighborhood that are clamoring for something to do to keep ot of trouble. Enter Saula Koroi, the President of Fiji Basketball Association. He, along with numerous others, I'm sure) work tirelessly to help these kids through the sport of basketball. He also coaches the Women's and Men's National Youth teams of Fiji.
We received a call through a contact in Fiji named Jim Tora. In addition to being a generally good guy, he also used to play basketball for the Fijian National Basketball Team. He informed us that each day during the week upcoming was a
basketball clinic for the younger kids of Raiwaqa neighborhood at Ed's Court (Named after a Peace Corp volunteer years ago).
So we went to check it out. Karen and I, plus the Kreshel boys piled into a cab with some items that we brought with us from home. We drove to what was a nice facility in the middle of this Raiwaqa neighborhood. We arrived a bit early to the prescribed clinic hours so we could see what was going on.
When we got there, there were 3 or 4 kids wearing flip-flops or no shoes at all sharing one basketball taking shots at a dilapidated backboard and rim. The hoops had no nets, the concrete surface showed worn markings on the floor outlining the free throw and three point lines.
We set down our things. Karen positioned herself strategically with her SLR camera to follow the flow of the game... And the boys and I walked onto the court.
Bringing two basketballs of our own, we sauntered onto the court where the other boys were playing. We joined in on the play. We made some shots, missed others. The boys took some wild 3-pointers that clanged off of the rim and others fell straight through the net-less hoops. The Kreshel boys were able to establish their credibility through their athleticism, competitive nature, and distance shooting.
After about 15 minutes of shoot around, one of the elder Fijian boys indicated, in broken English, that we should join them in a game. So we did. We split up the teams and started what would turn out to be a series of full-court basketball games with the local kids of Fiji. Awesome!
I (in what some might call my typical style) helped to shuffle kids of different ages, skill levels, and genders onto and off of the court. We played 5-aside games to 3 baskets... King of the Court! We played for about 30 minutes when the "older brothers" showed up. These boys, I learned later were the siblings of the youths that were playing with us as well as (some of them) members of the aforementioned Fijian Youth National basketball team. They, seing the energy on the court, sidled up and demanded to play. Waiting their turn (I demanded back) they were worked into the rotation with the rest of the kids.
Soon after... "Coach Saula" arrived. He, with great respect from the kids gathered them together for a quick prayer and then a set of clinic drills. Several of the original youth pulled on the arms of the Kreshel boys, encouraging them to join in on the practice session (of which they obliged). For the next hour, both Coach Saula and I shared the drill responsibilities and taught the kids basic basketball skills: dribbling, passing, pivots, jump stops, and shooting. The kids soaked up the skills and the attention.
As it was time for us to depart, we pulled the core group of about 12 kids together for a quick photo-op. We left them with the items we brought from home, including: Two (new-in-box) basketball nets - which will have to be taped in place because the typical rings to hold on the net are so rusted and broken off that they will not function); Two basketballs we arrived with and; y youth sized basketball jerseys to be handed out to some of the kids - the jerseys belonged to the Kreshel Boys... some were their Golden State Warriors jerseys and others were last year's NJB game worn youth club jerseys. THe Fijian boys loved these jerseys and even the possibility of getting one. Sadly we could not provide one for each of the boys.
After high-fives and half-hugs, we departed... feeling like we impacted these kids. I could tell that a couple of them had some real talent. It will be interesting to see if any of them can some day find themselves playing on an even larger stage...
