Adidas Streetball unravels today

The 2003 Adidas Streetball Challenge for the National Capital Region will officially begin today at the Araneta Coliseum parking lot where a chance to represent the country to the 2003 Asian Streetball Finals in Seoul, South Korea, awaits the winning team.

The competition will be staged for the first time in the Big Dome area which has been the site of various local and international sporting events.

"It’s quite a big leap for the Adidas Streetball competition to be at the very doorstep of the Big Dome," said tournament director Noel Ascue. "We just couldn’t believe we will get this close during the eight years the league has been in existence."

A total of 120 teams, divided into Midgets (9-12 years), Juniors (13-15), Girls (19 & under) and Seniors (16-19) are presently enlisting for the NCR eliminations. Teams seeing action at the Araneta Center are member schools from the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) and State Colleges and Universities Athletic Association (SCUAA) including Ateneo de Manila University, De La Salle University, San Beda College, University of Santo Tomas, University of the East and Far Eastern University.

The winner of the NCR eliminations will automatically qualify for the four-team national finals set in Makati City in July.

"Streetball" basketball calls for four players to compose a team, which plays in ‘simulated’ street courts instead of a regular hardcourt in a playing field equal to the size of a half court.

A series of smaller eliminations in the provincial areas have also been set. Schools from Sta. Rosa, Laguna, Legaspi, Albay and Baguio City will compete in San Fernando, Pampanga for the Luzon area. Teams from Cebu, Iloilo and Bacolod will play in Cebu for the Visayas while Davao hosts the game for Zamboanga, Cagayan de Oro and Davao City.

Winners in these provincial eliminations will automatically qualify to play in the national finals.