MANILA, Philippines - Sixteen teams will battle for the Seaoil Elite League national title set on May 22-25 at the West Negros University Gym in Bacolod City.
Two teams from South Luzon, three from North Luzon, six from Visayas and five from Mindanao are fielded in the one-round pocket tournament that is sponsored by Seaoil Philippines, Burlington, Freego Jeans and Molten under the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas.
Representing South Luzon are San Mig Coffee Cavite and B-Meg Lucena while teams from North Luzon are Magnolia Fresh Chicken Bulacan, Magnolia Ice Cream La Union, Star Margarine Olongapo.
Visayas teams are Star Margarine Dumaguete, Purefoods TJ Cebu and Bacolod, San Mig Coffee Bacolod, Magnolia Ice Cream Iloilo and B-MEG Ormoc while battling for Mindanao are Star Margarine Zamboanga, Magnolia Ice Cream Gen San, Purefoods TJ Davao, Monterey Meatshop CDO and San Mig Coffee Iligan.
The top two teams after the one round elimination will go the finals for a winner-take-all match.
“These teams represent the emerging cream of the crop of players 14 to 16 years old. These players along with the coaches went through the unique Seaoil Elite League program that focuses on fundamentals and team play,”said executive director Eric Altamirano.
Petroleum company Seaoil Philippines is backing the Seaoil Elite League, also known as the National Basketball Training Center (NBTC) Elite League or NBTC Elite League, composed of 168 teams made up of 3,024 players and 336 coaches.
The three-year sponsorship commitment of Seaoil will allow the league to push its program to identify, prepare and develop young players for youth national teams. The participating teams are trained under the same module that will focus on fundamentals while coaches will also benefit from regular coaching seminars.