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Pasefika Basketball League high profile talent includes Brandon Lilo-Drollet (left), a 6’6″ forward who previously featured for a Huskies-affiliated side at the Basketball New Zealand U23 National Championships, and Dante Joseph who represents the Sāmoan national team in the FIBA competition.
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Sports
New league opens pathway opportunities for emerging Pacific basketballers
League co-founder Sefo Leusogi-Ape supports his own children in their basketball careers and wants others to be given the same opportunity.
PMN News
Published
09 February 2026, 3:52pm
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A new initiative aims to bridge the gap between amateur competition and professional opportunities for Pacific basketball players.
The Pasefika Basketball League (PBL) will launch this month with a Pro Showcase Trial to be held on 15 February at the Alan Brewster Leisure Centre in Papatoetoe, Auckland.
PBL co-founder and director, Sefo Leusogi-Ape, says the league was developed after years of seeing Pacific athletes struggle to find opportunities once they leave school or miss out on national league selection.
Speaking with John Pulu on PMN Tonga, Leusogi-Ape says the initiative hasn’t been done before since he stepped away from basketball, and that it aims to provide opportunities for a 19 to 24 age group that have previously missed out.
The programme builds on eight years of tournaments involving teams representing Tonga, Niue, Sāmoa, Fiji, the Cook Islands, and Aotearoa.
At the showcase event, registered players aged 20 years and over will trial in front of coaches from five semi-professional teams seeking recruits.
Watch Sefo Leusogi-Ape's full interview on PMN Tonga below.
“It helps these athletes gain opportunities … and they’re able to get paid or whatever the club has a package for them,” he says.
Leusogi-Ape has supported his own children in playing opportunities with his son in the National Basketball League (NBL), the premier professional men’s basketball league in Australia and New Zealand, and his daughter, who is currently playing basketball for the Oklahoma Christian University (Eagles) in the United States.
“I'm trying to do that for every other Pacific island kid that wants an opportunity,” he says.
You can click on the QR code to register for the Pro Showcase Trial on 15 February, at the Alan Brewster Leisure Centre in Papatoetoe, Auckland. Photo/Supplied.
Leusogi-Ape says the long-term goal is to increase Pacific representation in elite competitions and ensure talented players are not forced to abandon their sporting ambitions due to limited pathways.
“We can’t wait for other people to create something for us, so we’ve got a platform where we can do that,” Leusongi-Ape says.