Fiji's Estelle Kainamoli Praises FIBA 3x3 High-Performance Camp in Australia

GOLD COAST (Australia) - Fresh from securing a Silver Medal at the 2023 Pacific Games 3x3 event, Fijian skipper Estelle Kainamoli continues her journey of learning and growth.
 
A New Initiative for Women in Basketball
 
The 21-year-old Kainamoli is participating in the inaugural FIBA 3x3 High Performance Camp, a new initiative of FIBA Oceania. The camp is aligned with one of FIBA's strategic pillars, "Women in Basketball".
 
"The camp has been a great experience so far, I have learned so much even outside of basketball," shared Kainamoli. "The different training involving scientific and modern methods opened my eyes to how I can improve myself and our whole team," she shared.
 
Kainamoli, who started representing the Fijian national team when she was 13 years old, is part of Fiji's delegation of 4 women basketball players.
 
The camp also includes representatives from 15 national federations from the Pacific region, and the project supports another pillar of FIBA,  promoting the 3x3 discipline.

Overall, the camp welcomed over 70 female participants supporting the sport's growing popularity in the region.
 
"It's been a lot of fun, training with some of the people I competed with last year. 3x3 is a very physical and fast-paced game which I enjoy a lot. We are all growing together and I am excited to see how big 3x3 can become,” stated Kainamoli, a third-year university student majoring in Economics and official statistics.
 
“3x3 is a great sport for us in the Pacific because it is easier to build teams with fewer players. The unpredictable nature of the game adds so much excitement,” she added.
 
Training Beyond the Court
 
Beyond the on-court skills, the camp provides learnings from different facets outside of the sport including taking care of your emotional and mental health.
 
"We are learning a lot of theories even outside of basketball; our well-being, controlling your emotions to simpler stuff like breathing and generally life itself," said the Suva native.
 
Part of the program also includes sessions discussing Nutrition and Recovery, Safeguarding, Athlete Empowerment, and Guest Panels for the delegates to learn from the industry leaders of the sport.
 
The High-Performance camp is led by a diverse group of facilitators including Damon Lowery a former National Basketball player, who has coached the Australia women's 3x3 team, Hannah Lowe, a WNBL Champion coach, Vanessa Devlin, two-time South Australia Official of the Year.
 
Off the court, Javier Deshayes is in charge of Safeguarding and career management, and Regan Kama, an esteemed Sports Administrator of various organisation's including a stint as FIBA Oceania Development Manager, the mentors are backstopped by Camp Ambassador, Villiami Foketi, a Tongan national team player, currently playing in the NBL1.
 
3x3 in the Pacific
 
3x3 is the fastest growing urban sport in the world and with the camp inviting delegations from American Samoa, Australia, Cook Islands, Fiji, Northern Mariana Islands, New Caledonia, Palau, Samoa, Tahiti, and Vanuatu the knowledge shared within the program is bound to boost the sport in the region.
 
"We are extremely excited about this project because it gives the players, officials, and coaches the opportunity to experience world-class training. FIBA Oceania is committed to helping our Federations develop 3x3 in the Pacific region," FIBA Executive Director, Amanda Jenkins shared.
 
"We hope this can continue the positive momentum we built from introducing 3x3 in the 2019 Pacific Games and the follow-up with the highly successful 2023 edition," she added.
 
The 3x3 High-Performance Camp held at Somerset College was made possible by the partnership of FIBA, Olympic Solidarity and PacificAus Sports. The grassroots program focuses on providing resources to the Pacific athletes to assist them in competing on the world stage.
 
The next step for most of the players, coaches, and officials involved is the upcoming 2025 Mini Games in Palau next year.
 
“We are excited to play in the Mini Games next year. Hopefully, we can use that experience to capture the Gold Medal again in the next Pacific Games.” Kainamoli shared. "Basketball has been rising in popularity in Fiji over the last few years. The dream is to inspire young kids to take up the sport, which starts by inspiring them with excellence".