GE PLAY hosted its final regional tournaments for western and eastern parts of Georgia on December 19-20, 2015. The tournament in Tbilisi brought together nine school based youth basketball teams from Rustavi and Tbilisi. A similar event in Kutaisi gathered 14 teams from Poti, Zugdidi, Senaki and Kutaisi schools.

“I’ll be happy to help but I have no idea of how to couch a basketball team; I don’t know even the basic basketball rules” said Tea Galakhvaridze, Tbilisi Main Police Department District Police Officer, when the GE PLAY program team approached her for the first time and requested for her to participate.

Two GE PLAY Basketball tournaments and a gold medal later Tea has a lot to say about coaching a school-based basketball team, the problems and needs of 3x3 street basketball in Georgia, youth counseling and the tricks to make them study and behave.