BEST SBP Passerelle

With the UAAP season wrapping up the collegiate and high school basketball scene for the major players, it’s now time to check out a tournament that may be a “minor” league, but which has a major impact on school-based sports. We’re talking about the SBP Passerelle Twin Tournament sponsored by Milo.

Ongoing now in Baguio City is the national finals of this long running tournament that was established to provide a venue for young basketball players 15 years old and below. The tournament features two age groups: the Small Basketeers Philippines or SBP division and the Passerelle division. The SBP division is for players in the Under 12, 11 and 10 age groups, while the Passerelle division is for the Under 15, 14, and 13 age groups. Each team has five players each for the different age groups. The tournament is nationwide in scope, with four major areas: Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao and Metro Manila. The Luzvimin areas have their own provincial tournaments. Luzon is composed of Baguio, Pampanga, Pangasinan and Quezon. The Visayas is composed of Roxas, Iloilo, Bacolod and Cebu. Mindanao is composed of Davao, Cagayan de Oro and Zamboanga. These provinces conduct their own provincial level tournaments with its  champions proceeding to the regional finals. The regional champion then represents the area in the national finals. Metro Manila stands as a region on its won and its champion automatically qualifies for the national finals.

The SBP teams that are enjoying the cold climate in Baguio are Ateneo de Davao for Mindanao, Ateneo de Iloilo for the Visayas, La Salle Greenhills for Metro Manila and Berkeley School of Baguio for Luzon. The Passerelle teams are Ateneo de Davao for Mindanao, Sun Yat Sen High School of Iloilo for the Visayas, Adamson University for Metro Manila and Holy Angel University of Pampanga for Luzon. The four teams in each division play in a single round-robin classification phase, with the top two teams facing off in the championship game. Pre-tournament favorites (hands down) are the teams from Manila: La Salle Greenhills and Adamson. The defending national champions from 2014 aren’t around this year: Xavier School SBP and the UV Passerelle team. The trip for the teams to the regional and national finals is an excellent venue for personal development and growth. All players stay on one place. They eat together, sleep together as a team, and move about as a team. They also get to interact with players from other parts of the country. The fact that Baguio is the venue for this year’s national finals becomes a most welcome bonus as one gets the chance to stay in the summer capital of the country for a three-day-two-night stay, all expenses paid. Going to Baguio has become both a prize and a break for all teams in their winning their provincial and regional championships.

So what’ so big about all this SBP Passerelle talk? This tournament has become the main springboard and training ground for the basketball players who play in the high school and collegiate scene. Among the more familiar names include the likes of Kiefer Ravena, Chris Tiu, JV Casio, Kobe Paras and Thirdy Ravena. At yesterday’s opening ceremony, UAAP rookie of the year Andre Caracut of La Salle was presented as a special guest, having been a product of the tournament and the clinics organized by the BEST Center. He was joined by four members of the NCAA 2015 high school champions San Beda Red Cubs in Addy Velasquez, Prince Etrata, JM Lagumen and Peter Alfaro. And they’re not the only products of the BEST Center’s program. Today’s current crop of UAAP, NCAA, CESAFI college and high school teams are filled with players who have played in an SBP Passerelle tournament and have undergone training in clinics of the BEST Center.

The BEST Center program started in 1978 when Nic Jorge saw the need to set up basketball clinics that focused on the basics of basketball more than the technical aspect of playing basketball competitively. And so thus was born the BEST Center clinics that have lasted the test of time and continue to teach the basics of basketball to young players. These clinics are held nationwide and complement (not compete with) the programs of basketball programs of schools and clubs. The clinics don’t teach players game strategies, plays and other game-related technical matters. In fact, the clinics don’t teach anything new. These focus on ball-handling, shooting, individual defense and individual offense. All are designed to make a player fit in with any basketball system of any basketball program. As an offshoot of the clinics, the SBP Passerelle tournament was established as a venue for players to hone their skills and apply what they learned.

Fast forward to today, the partnership between the BEST Center and Milo has become a household name in basketball. The name “Milo BEST” became a by-word (although it’s not the official name of the program). Colgate and toothpaste? The BEST Center and Milo have become practically the generic tag for the BEST Center clinics and the SBP Passerelle tournament. The BEST Center clinics draw the largest number of students nationwide, while the tournament has become a regular fixture in the calendars of the basketball programs of major schools. By providing a venue for the youngest basketball players to gain exposure, improve their craft and also become better persons, the BEST Center’s program has become a major player in Philippine basketball. As Andrei Caracut said in his brief talk yesterday, “If I had not joined BEST Center activities when I was younger, I wouldn’t be here today.”