Youth enrollment at Ozurgeti Basketball School grows fivefold

GBF 2026-04-06
Youth enrollment at Ozurgeti Basketball School grows fivefold

The Georgian Basketball Federation’s project, aimed at developing basketball in the regions, continues successfully. The most recent visit—the 5th in recent years—took place in Ozurgeti, where a new batch of basketball equipment was delivered to the Guria region.

As a reminder, the Regional Development Program is carried out in cooperation with the FIBA Youth Development Fund. The Federation matches the funds received from this program with its own budget, effectively doubling the resources to distribute a wide variety of equipment to every city or village across the country active in basketball.

The delegation to Ozurgeti included:

  • Nikoloz Tskitishvili – Vice-President of the Georgian Basketball Federation.

  • Shalva Oniani – Head of the Regional Department.

  • Aleko Petriashvili, Mate Antia, and Irakli Pertaia – Department heads and officials from relevant federation services.

Equipment and Technical Aids

This time, the Guria region received a comprehensive set of equipment, including:

  • Game balls and basketball backboards.

  • Team uniforms.

  • Dribbling goggles – Specialized eyewear designed to help young players improve their ball-handling by blocking their downward vision.

  • Coaching clipboards and whistles.

  • Shooting trainer – An innovative and highly useful device designed to help players master correct shooting mechanics and form.

Impact and Growth

The Federation has delivered equipment to Guria five times under this program. Over this period, interest in the Ozurgeti basketball section has surged by more than 500%. While five years ago the Ozurgeti basketball school had about 50 children, today that number is approaching 250. The systematic equipment support, combined with visits from renowned veteran players, has significantly boosted local interest—a trend expected to grow further as infrastructure improves.

Infrastructure Updates

Rehabilitation work is set to begin soon at the Vakhtang Blagidze Sports Hall in Ozurgeti, which will upgrade the training environment for basketball players and other athletes. The Mayor of Ozurgeti, Paata Kunchulia, along with local sports department officials, met with the Federation representatives at the hall to discuss these developments.

Within the framework of the Regional Development Program, most regions of Georgia have already been visited this year, and this process will continue moving forward.