Samegrelo and Adjara received another supply of equipment through the basketball development program

GBF 2025-12-21

The basketball development program in the regions is actively continuing. It is being implemented by the Georgian Basketball Federation in cooperation with FIBA’s Youth Development Fund. The International Basketball Federation allocates certain funds for youth development in its member countries, and Georgia is making maximum use of these resources.

European countries where youth basketball—and basketball in general—is already well developed do not benefit from this fund (Youth Development Fund). However, there are countries that use this FIBA tranche in a targeted way to develop basketball in their own countries as much as possible. The Georgian Basketball Federation has been actively cooperating with FIBA’s fund for the fourth year, and precisely to absorb this tranche it created the regional basketball development program. Along with the FIBA fund, the federation also allocates money from its own budget to the program, using these funds to purchase all the necessary basketball equipment for Georgia’s regions.

This month, the third regional visit has already taken place. The program is implemented by the Federation’s Regional Department, whose head, Shalva Oniani, travels to various cities and villages together with Vice President Nikoloz Tskitishvili. Within the framework of the program, regional youth basketball schools, academies, and teams receive backboards, balls, uniforms, scoreboards, dribbling goggles, shooting training devices, while coaches receive professional boards, whistles, coaching uniforms, and periodically basketball-related literature. The transfer of medical equipment is also planned, which will be implemented after the involvement of the Georgian Basketball Federation’s Medical Department in the program.

The latest visit took place on December 19 and covered the Samegrelo and Adjara regions. During the visit to Poti, the program leaders delivered equipment for the entire Samegrelo region. The equipment brought to Poti was received by the Samegrelo Basketball Federation and its president, Beka Bekaia, who also heads one of the most populous basketball schools in the region.

This time, the program also provided equipment for the village of Potskho in the Senaki municipality, where an active basketball player—currently a member of “Rustavi”—Vakhtang Kadaria, founded a team. This is precisely the goal and policy of the regional basketball development program: to support the emergence of basketball hubs across Georgia’s regions and to provide them with all the necessary assistance for full-scale operation.

Basketball schools in Adjara are mainly concentrated in Batumi; however, this time equipment was also delivered for Kobuleti and for teams based in other towns of the region. Representatives of the Basketball Federation visited the Batumi Sports Palace during an intra-regional tournament and, after speaking with young basketball players, handed over various types of equipment.

Batumi also received a modern, Euro-standard basketball scoreboard, the need for which arose recently. Its provision was carried out by the Basketball Federation within the framework of the regional basketball development program.

The year 2025 has not yet ended for the program. A visit to Senaki is planned for December 29, where there is strong basketball activity and the school requires additional basketball equipment.