Helping hand for Solomons

Greg Brockbank, of Basketball Otago, and policeman Tim Coudret at the Edgar Centre yesterday with...
Greg Brockbank, of Basketball Otago, and policeman Tim Coudret at the Edgar Centre yesterday with the gear donated by BBO to take to the Solomon Islands. PHOTO: GREGOR RICHARDSON
There are set to be fewer pairs of jandals and more pairs of shoes on the basketball courts of the Solomon Islands.

Dunedin policeman and basketball player Tim Coudret headed back to Pacific nation yesterday and will take with him bags full of old basketball gear. Basketball Otago has given five boxes and bags, while a call around the community had added extra boots and training singlets.

Coudret has been in the Solomon Islands as part of the Ramsay Mission, a joint Pacific nations mission to the country.

``We do a lot of community work and a lot of community engagement,'' the 36-year-old said.

``So part of what I'm doing is working with some of the local basketball teams. In doing that I've found they have little to no gear in the way of training gear, playing gear, shoes, basketballs.

``So working with Basketball Otago and Greg [Brockbank], they've given us some of their old gear to donate to Solomon Islands basketball. Particularly their youth development programme. The plan is hopefully getting some of them to play basketball a bit better and looking semi-professional.''

Coudret, who had played locally for the Bay Falcons club for the past decade, said basketball was growing in the Solomon Islands. There was a good club structure and a lot of natural talent.

However, the lack of gear prevented them from wearing the same colours on the court, or even playing in shoes.

``Jandals seem to be the main thing on the basketball court. Odd shoes, odd jandals, old ripped T-shirts and shorts. The T-shirt they play basketball in will be the T-shirt they just wear on a day-to-day basis as well.''

The police had a partnership with Toll transport and were hoping they would help ship the gear over. However, Coudret had his own bag stocked with singlets and shoes to give out straight away.

Once over there, they would assess where the gear was most needed and distribute it accordingly. The gear ranged from old under-11 uniforms to seniors, meaning it would service a wide range of people.

 - Jeff Cheshire

Add a Comment