Two young Samoans have received two out of six basketball scholarships that are currently available in the United States of America.

Lealofi Tamasese from the villages of Fasitoo Uta, Safotu, Sili, Satupaitea, Tuanai, and Vaimoso, as well as Brendan Connolly Sio from Savai'i, Lufilufi and Laulii, are the recipients of the two basketball scholarships to be undertaken in the U.S.

Brisbane-based organisation Dare2Dream Basketball – which was founded by basketball coach Filomena Leaupepe and provides pathways for youngsters to be scouted by coaches from American high schools and colleges – is working behind the scenes to make this happen.

Ms. Leaupepe confirmed the selection of Lealofi and Brendan for the two basketball scholarships in America.

“Two of our players have been offered partial scholarships with top five U.S. High School Basketball Academy (Southern Coast Academy Florida)," she said. "Two more were identified by U.S. coaches for ongoing training for U.S. pathways.

"I started the program after five years of paying thousands for my son, Lealofi Tamasese to play club basketball and representative basketball. I experienced that the fundamentals of basketball were not taught in these pathways."

According to the Dare2Dream Basketball founder, she had to study where the American professional basketball leagues were getting the cream of their players before making a decision.

“I looked at the National Basketball Association (NBA) and saw most of the NBA players were from U.S. colleges. I looked at U.S. colleges and identified most of the U.S. college players are U.S. high school Players. 

"I looked at the National Basketball League, the same thing, the best NBL players are U.S. college players so the decision was made to be strategic with our money, put our money towards a pathway with the best results in the game of basketball which was the U.S. High School College Pathway."

After getting in contact with the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) United States Basketball they were invited to the Championship Tournament in July this year. 

“We started preparing a U17 and an U20 Boys Team for AAU US World Championship in Orlando Florida at Disney World Wide World of Sports,” she said. “We didn't place but...it was a massive learning experience. We got blessed with our aim to play in the U.S. against D1 teams. We got our players exposed to U.S. scouts and we were blessed."

According to Ms. Leaupepe, the two boys who were identified for the basket scholarships had met all the requirements of the American scouts, who looked at their commitment to training and games, and high work ethic with consistency in training and games as well as respect for coaches.

“There were over 200 Teams from across US and internationally. SCA offered only six scholarships. Dare2Dream was blessed with two of the six. We expected to go two years in before getting any opportunity. 

"Some players have done US tours for years but here's our difference, Dare2Dream Basketball is faith-based. The underpinning of the Dare2Dream Basketball Program is based on this."

The progress of Dare2Dream Basketball to this point is because of their faith and their continued blessings, said Ms. Leaupepe. The scholarships are partial scholarships and the players still have to pay a high portion of their first year as well as set up GoFundMe pages for people to donate.