(c) FIBA Oceania

PORT MORESBY – The finalists for the 2017 Papua New Guinea SP Sports Awards (SPSA) have been announced. The Basketball Federation of Papua New Guinea (BFPNG) has been featured in two separate categories.

BFPNG’s Hoops for Health program has been nominated in the Community Sports Initiative category for the positive impact the program has had on the PNG community. Another award contender is Timothy Mako who has been nominated in the National Performance Award category for his outstanding work in basketball.

“It’s fantastic that our Hoops for Health program has been recognised as one of three finalists in this category,” commented BFPNG Exectutive Officer Joel Khalu. “ We are thankful to the SP Sports Awards committee for this honour.”

“It's a testament to all of the hard-work that has been put in by everybody involved, in particular our BFPNG volunteer crew who are one of the main driving forces behind its ongoing success.”

“As a leading National Sporting Federation in Papua New Guinea, we have undertaken the commitment to making sure we deliver positive community engagement and through Hoops for Health we are achieving this goal.”

“It would be great to win the overall award on May 27, but for us it’s not about collecting silverware, it’s about ensuing we are doing our job of making a positive difference in the country through basketball, from grassroots to the elite level.”

Mr. Khalu also extended his congradulations to Mr. Mako.

“BFPNG would like to congradulate Timothy Mako for being listed as one of three finalists for the National Sports Performance Award.”

“Tim has been doing outstanding development work for Basketball over a long period of time and is well deserving of this recognition.”

“In particular last year, he was an integral part of our BFPNG program that successfully delivered clinics in Hela, in partnership with the PNGOC and ExxonMobil.”

The 25th anniversary of the SPSA will be held at Stanley Hotel, Papua New Guinea on May 27.