Comm International debuts against Teletech as the Inter-Call Center basketball tournament unfolds at City Sports Club on Monday, April 14.
The team participates in its first official basketball tournament. It will play against the likes of Convergys, Etelecare, Qualfon, People Support and Western Wats, and three other new teams in the tournament, Calltek and Teletech and Western Wats 2.
iComm, which is not a call center, was invited to play by the City Sports, the organizers of the tournament, after hosting the company’s sports festival last year. Officials who some players play opined that: “iComm has the potential.”
Coach Armand Colina had that in mind as well. From the 30 that reported for tryout three weeks ago, 15 players and four reserves got his nod to wear iComm’s colors.
Colina, who coaches Thirsty Basketball Team and assisted Al Solis in the bench for Arthro Kontra Arthritis in the MVBA, didn’t get all from his wish list. “The team is relatively small. We have to defend, speed up the tempo and make the open shots. Time and again I have told the players that we couldn’t afford to play a half-court game because the other teams will just eat us alive,” Colina said.
Minoy Villaruel, the team captain, agrees with Coach Armand’s observation. He, however, expressed confidence in what the team could do. “iComm is a small team with average talents and skills. Our chance of winning a game is not that rosy but we are hoping to pull a win or two against bigger, taller and more experienced teams. To do this, we need to execute our defensive plan, then, ‘run and gun.’ In short, we need a near perfect game and some help from above to win,” Minoy said.
The team is slowly bonding after three weeks of practices, which is bad news for other teams.
Bart Buenaventura, the starting point guard, summed it all, “The iComm Team is a family. We work not just as a team, but also as brothers looking unto each other. And a family could always be regarded as the hardest team to break, especially when you are against it.” (RBO)