Developmental basketball

In an earlier column, I stated that it seems to me that the Nokia National Basketball Training Center (NBTC) D-League (Developmental League) is one among the few grassroots-based sports programs that clearly has program rationale and objectives, mechanics and even a development framework that the NBTC calls the basketball pathway.

With the support of Nokia and the SBP, former University of the Philippines (UP) Fighting Maroon Eric Altamirano has embarked on a mission to have the Philippines qualify for the 2010 Youth Olympics in Singapore and the 2012 London Olympics.

Although these are tall orders, there is at least a plan that benefactors may consider should their support be solicited. In addition, the program has checkpoints, as milestones, that allow one to assess program progress. Most important, at this time when the governors can invoke executive privilege to conceal important facts from the governed (who have a right to these facts), the NBTC program has a strong element of accountability embedded in it.

Altamirano, former head coach of three PBA teams, says that the program “will serve as training ground for the players to improve their skills until they are ripe to plunge into battle in FIBA-sanctioned international competitions, with the main goals being the Youth Olympics and the 2012 Olympics.”

The 42-year-old Altamirano, who is a BA Philosophy graduate of UP, guided the Fighting Maroons to a rare Final Four appearance in the UAAP in 1996, and has won two PBA championships. He is, together with Franz Pumaren, one of the most capable coaches for youth teams, despite what the latter’s detractors say.

Altamirano has been involved with organizations like the Coach E basketball school, the Coca-Cola Tigers champions basketball health and active lifestyle program and director of the BAP-SBP NBTC and the San Miguel Corp. basketball goodwill circuit.

Altamirano, who has close ties with Australian basketball officials, has benefited from Australian successes in the sport. The NBTC Developmental League is similar to the system in Australia where Local/Social competitions are generally the first scored competitions experienced by players and are often played at a local recreation center which is the equivalent of our barangay multi-purpose center.

To get involved in Social Basketball, one normally joins either a team at a local center or forms a new team or club together with friends and colleagues. Social competitions are usually open to players who are U 12 (under 12), U14, U16, U18, Senior and Mixed (men and women). This is a classic example of the dynamism of club/community sports which is the backbone of the highly-successful Australian sports development program.

Representative Basketball is the term used to describe players suiting up for a highly organized competition consisting of coaches, team managers and higher standard players.

Talent Identification (TI) is the term used to describe the means to identify players who have the potential to play at a very high level. TI can lead to players being offered scholarships at the National Intensive Training Centre Program (NITCP) run at the South Australian Sports Institute (SASI) or positions on State teams.

Players who excel in state teams and in the NITCP at SASI can be selected to go the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) in Canberra which takes care of Australia’s highest level of elite sports development. Players who are identified through the AIS and/or State teams can be offered positions in national squads.

The objectives of the NBTC program are not just to focus on winning but to concentrate on fundamentals, skills development and values like hard work and respect for one’s opponent always. Another objective is to provide a springboard for both players and coaches to attain a higher level of learning. The program aims to assist both teachers and students of the game. This is one of Nokia’s corporate social responsibility programs.

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Three referees wearing uniforms numbered 12, 15 and 19 nearly ruined an exciting best-of-three game between De La Salle and Far Eastern University last Sunday at the Araneta Coliseum. I refer to them by their numbers because if they continue to officiate the way they did last Sunday, there is no need to remember them by name as they will get nowhere.