{"id":199472,"date":"2025-10-09T04:18:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-09T04:18:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/199472\/"},"modified":"2025-10-09T04:18:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-09T04:18:09","slug":"vanuatu-basketball-fuelled-by-heart-and-hardship-about-fiba","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/199472\/","title":{"rendered":"Vanuatu Basketball Fuelled by Heart and Hardship |\u00a0About FIBA"},"content":{"rendered":"

PORT VILA (Vanuatu) \u2013 The Vanuatu men\u2019s basketball team enters the 2025 FIBA Melanesian Cup<\/a> ready to prove they belong on top. Being away from the competition has only made this team hungrier to face their opponents on the court. Vanuatu Men\u2019s Team Captain, Rikki Vora, is ready for it all to begin. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey have no idea who we are, what kind of team we are, and what Vanuatu is capable of,\u201d Vora said. \u201cBut we know who they are, and playing against these teams will make Vanuatu basketball gain much-needed experience and exposure.\u201d <\/p>\n

Vora knows that this national men\u2019s team has what it takes to make an imprint on the Vanuatu nation, and as team captain, he is determined to make every moment count. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d like to think this is a special team, and it\u2019s special because we all believe that Vanuatu can compete on that stage and deserves to be there,” Vora said.<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/p>\n

We have the talent to make it – Rikki Vora<\/p>\n

In Vanuatu, rain doesn\u2019t cancel training; it becomes part of it. <\/p>\n

On outdoor courts that have been abused by sun and storms, Vanuatu\u2019s national men\u2019s team trains through the elements, chasing a dream that most of their regional rivals pursue under bright lights and polished hardwood. <\/p>\n

Training sessions involve dodging potholes deep enough to break an ankle and shooting free throws with the wind pushing the ball in the opposite direction. But, the Vanuatu Men\u2019s Team Coach Sam Lewis believes, \u201cthese hardships make us a strong team.” <\/p>\n

Vanuatu\u2019s absence from the competition doesn\u2019t mean they have neglected the sport they love. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a \u2018strop g hoops\u2019 culture and a great crew of guys and girls playing pick up every day,\u201d Lewis shared. <\/p>\n

Now, in preparation for the Melanesian Cup, Lewis has \u201cprepared [them] to a high level and is excited to see how the boys perform on an international stage.” <\/p>\n

The Vanuatu men will be bringing their passion for basketball to the Solomon Islands as they play on polished wooden courts for the first time in over two decades. For this team, it\u2019s not just about the facilities they have \u2014 it\u2019s about the fire they bring with them. <\/p>\n

The FIBA Melanesian Cup<\/a> will be hosted by the Solomon Islands Basketball Federations in Honiara from October 13 to 18. The event will be supported by the National Sports Council<\/a>, with the two teams qualifying for the Pacific Games 2027 in Tahiti. All games will be livestreamed via the FIBA YouTube Channel<\/a> courtesy of TTV Solomons Islands<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PORT VILA (Vanuatu) \u2013 The Vanuatu men\u2019s basketball team enters the 2025 FIBA Melanesian Cup ready to prove…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":199473,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[574],"tags":[64,63,726,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-199472","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-basketball","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-basketball","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199472","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=199472"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199472\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/199473"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=199472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=199472"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=199472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}