The national men's and women's teams from the Solomon Islands are half way through their pre SPG training camp in Coffs Harbour. The teams have been undertaking daily training, and each evening they have played competitive games against a variety of Coffs Harbour teams. The Solomon Basketball Federation also submitted a 17-name preliminary squad for the upcoming South Pacific Games which will be held in Samoa. The squad features Waiges Turueke who has played a couple of season in the US collegiate system.
source: FIBA Oceania
The men's and women's teams travelled to the Christan Community High school to play their senior teams. Both teams were warmly welcomed by the school community, who packed the indoor school court to cheer on both their team and the visitors. Both Solomon teams were far too strong for the high school teams. Following this game the teams came to the FIBA Oceania office, where they were each given a basketball and some other FIBA Oceania memorabilia. On Saturday evening the Solomon teams faced off against the strong CoffsHarbour senior rep teams, with the Coffs girls being too strong for the island team. However, the men's game went to the Solomons, who put on an excellent display of speed, control and athleticism. On Sunday the teams travelled to Port Macquarie, a 2 hour bus ride south of Coffs Harbour. The women's team defeated the Port team, but the Port men proved too strong for the Solomon team. With daily training and games, the training regime has made the teams realise the stamina that is needed for a 10 day tournament, and returned home much more experienced players.
