CANBERRA (Australia) – Theresa Masoe‑Taimalelagi’s journey through the 2026 Women in Basketball Leadership Program reflects the determination and optimism that continue to drive basketball development across the Oceania.
Representing the Samoa National Basketball Association (SNBA), Theresa joined ten other women from nine National Federations in a program designed to strengthen leadership, governance, and pathways for women and girls throughout Oceania. Her commitment to building stronger governance foundations in Samoa earned her a week‑long internship with Basketball ACT (BACT), held from 10–17 September 2026.
Theresa entered the Women in Basketball Leadership Program with a clear focus: to help SNBA establish sustainable structures that can support long‑term growth.
During the in‑person workshop on the Gold Coast, she began drafting a constitution review for SNBA, drawing on conversations with fellow Oceania leaders who shared similar challenges and ambitions.
Theresa explained that many of the issues faced across the region are familiar, noting that learning from others was both reassuring and motivating. “A lot of our issues and restraints are the same,” she said.
FIBA’s Women in Basketball Leadership Program was heart-warming and good to learn from what my Pacific sisters are doing, because it really comes down to how passionate you are and how committed you are to seeing something come out of nothing.
Her internship with BACT provided the practical experience she hoped for. Theresa met with the Chair, CEO, COO, Audit and Risk Committee, and Integrity leaders, gaining insight into how a well‑established association operates and how governance decisions shape participation and performance.
She described the experience as deeply valuable.
“The practical experience that I can get from an internship like this is very, very valuable,” she said. “It’ll help with my confidence as a woman in a mostly male‑dominated sport, and the exposure it’s given me has been really good. I really value that.”
Throughout the week, Theresa also connected with female administrators and program leaders working across governance, participation, integrity, and performance pathways. These interactions strengthened her belief that women play a pivotal role in shaping the future of basketball, even in environments where they remain underrepresented.
“Women can drive the growth of basketball,” she said, encouraging emerging leaders to “keep getting involved, and don’t be afraid to use your voice.”
Back home in Samoa, that message is already taking hold.
SNBA’s newly elected board is mostly women, including the federation’s first female president, Pualele Craig. Since SNBA sharpened its strategic focus on female participation, with Theresa’s support the number of girls involved in basketball has grown from twenty‑five to a rapidly expanding group. She sees this momentum as the beginning of a generational shift, driven by the ‘young talent that’s coming up’ and the growing visibility of women in leadership roles.
Theresa’s constitution review, supported by FIBA and PacificAus Sports, is now progressing from a draft to a foundational governance document that will guide SNBA’s future. She hopes it will help create safer, more inclusive, and more sustainable pathways for women and girls in Samoa.
“It’s been helpful to have all the information from the Women in Basketball Leadership Program that I aim to bring to our board, to help our community,” she said. “The support from FIBA, the Samoan government, and the Australian government has been so helpful as well.”
Returning to Samoa, Theresa carries new ideas, stronger networks, and a renewed belief in the power of leadership to drive change. Her journey through Women in Basketball Leadership Program and BACT is already shaping the next chapter of women’s basketball in Samoa, one strategy, one policy, and one opportunity at a time.
About PacificAus Sports
PacificAus Sports is an Australian Government sports diplomacy initiative developing pathways for Pacific teams and athletes to compete in elite competitions and access high performance coaching in Australia and internationally. The program supports a range of Pacific sports, including basketball, rugby league, rugby union, netball, football, AFL, cricket and Olympic/Paralympic sports, with funding split evenly between women and men.
PacificAus Sports also partners with the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) to promote Pacific sport through ABC Television’s ‘That Pacific Sports Show’ and ABC Radio’s ‘Fresh Off the Field’. The high-performance outcomes of PacificAus Sports are complemented by the Australian Government’sTeam Upprogram, which focuses on sport for development in the Pacific. For more information about PacificAus Sports and its initiatives, visitwww.pacificaussports.gov.auand follow PacificAus Sports onFacebook.