BAP-SBP officials start spadework for RP sports

Members of the BAP-Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas board of trustees sat down to chart a road map for Philippine basketball in a two-day planning session ending yesterday at Tagaytay Highlands.

People like lawyer Boni Alentajan and Graham Lim sat down with Nic Jorge and the PBA group, each one showing high spirit of cooperation with the end view of putting the country back at the top of Asian basketball.

The group easily reached a quorum with only commercial sector members Chino Trinidad, Lito Alvarez, Michel Lhuillier and geographical sector member Danny Soria not in attendance.

"It was a very fruitful first planning session. There was nothing definite, nothing formal, but the mission and vision as well as certain proposals and initiatives to be BAP-SBP’s priorities were tackled," said PBA commissioner Noli Eala, a trustee representing the pro sector.

"The spirit of cooperation was very high and it’s a good sign. There was a healthy exchange of ideas which hopefully could be translated into future plans," Eala added.

Turnover of all BAP activities to BAP-SBP and mandatory support of different leagues to the national team were among issues raised and discussed.

Curiously, Alentajan proposed the turnover of the BAP activities to BAP-SBP, a proposal received with great approval by the floor.

Also gaining a lot of support was the proposal for mandatory support of a certain cage league, once asked of its help for the RP team.

While it’s already clear that the PBA is representing the country in the coming SEABA and FIBA-Asia championship, still up in the air is which will take care of Team Philippines’ campaigns in the Champions Cup and the SEA Games.

The SEABA-Champions Cup is slated to start April 9 in Jakarta. This tourney is the qualifier for the Asia Champions Cup set in Tehran, Iran in September. The SEAG is also set late this year in Bangkok.

The nomination committee, headed by former PBA board chair Ely Capacio, is about to start its delicate task of checking the validity of various organizations for inclusion as regular members of the unified cage body.

The 85 organizations have been accepted as interim BAP-SBP members. They have to gain regular membership status before the holding of the first BAP-SBP regular election of officers next year.

The nomination committee is also tasked to make the short list of candidates for executive director.