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CEBU, Philippines - What do the UAAP Finals Jrs MVP, NCAA MVP, UAAP Most Improved Player, the PBA MVP and the NCAA Juniors Coach of the Year have in common? Kiefer Ravena, Baser Amer, Emman Monfort, James Yap and Britt Reroma. They’re all products of the BEST SBP Passerelle Twin Tournament, one of the longest running tournaments in the country for age group sports. This was the proud declaration of Basketball Efficiency and Scientific Training Center (BEST) Founder Nic Jorge at a press gathering yesterday.

“2010 has been a fruitful year for the BEST Center. We are proud to say that all of the major awardees of the year are all products of the BEST Center,” Jorge said.

All these awardees played in the SBP Passerelle tournament during their formative years when they were in grade school and early years of high school. Ravena played for Ateneo de Manila, while San Beda’s Amer played for Holy Child School of Davao. Monfort and Yap played in lloilo while Reroma played for Don Bosco Cebu.

A new set of future stars will be showcased this weekend at the national finals of the BEST SBP Passerelle Twin Tournament sponsored by Milo which will be held at the USC Main Gym.

Eight teams in two divisions face off to determine the best team in the land. In the SBP division are three-peat national champions Ateneo de Manila University, Ateneo de Davao, Don Bosco Pampanga and Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu.

The Passerelle division features Xavier School of San Juan, International School for Better Beginnings (ISBB) of Lucena, Claret School of Zamboanga and Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu.

A brief opening ceremony will be held at 7:30 tomorrow morning, and this will be followed by a whole day of games. Format is single-round robin for the classification phase, with the top two teams facing off in the finals. (THE FREEMAN)