Hannemann Holds 19th Annual Basketball Jamboree
Mufi Hannemann today announced the roster of Hawaii’s top young female basketball players who will take to the court at Manoa Gym this Saturday, February 11, 2012, for the 19th annual Mufi Hannemann Basketball Jamboree.
Sixteen teams in three divisions will compete in the day-long tournament, which begins at 9:00 a.m. The divisions are 12 and under, 14 and under, and high school/college alumnae. Four teams will compete in each keiki division, while eight teams will play in the high school/college division.
In addition to some of the top high school basketball players, the jamboree will include many women who played in past jamborees and went on to successful college careers, among them: Nani Cockett (Hawaii), Elyse Umeda (Princeton), Brandy Richardson (UC Santa Barbara), Cat Cho (Hawaii), Keisha Kanekoa (Hawaii), Tiana Fuertes (Utah), Shanna Dacanay (Washington U), Nikki Fu (Concordia), Ana Viena-Lota (CSU Northridge), Summer Aona (Lassen), Mai Ayabe (Hawaii), Megan Ching (CSU Northridge), and Aritta Lane (Fresno State).
Games will tip off on the hour in the single-elimination tournament. The public is invited and admission is free. Donations are welcome, with proceeds going to the Hawaii High School Athletic Association.
“We’ll feature the top talent from across the islands and that should make for a terrific event,” said Mufi Hannemann. “We established this jamboree as a showcase for local female student-athletes who were largely unrecognized locally, but were nonetheless well-represented in the collegiate ranks. What began in 1994 as a small step toward gender equity has, in the years since, featured just about every top high school and college player in Hawaii at one time or another.
He added, “The Jamboree will also give us an opportunity to identify promising underclassmen for Team Aloha. So far, we’ve fielded five teams in almost as many years to compete at NCAA-sanctioned tournaments in Arizona and California, where the girls have been able to showcase their talents to college coaches. This exposure has been invaluable, while it’s also enabled our talented younger players to compete against seasoned club teams from the mainland.”
» View the bracket and roster here
