Our own March madness

The National Basketball Training Center unveils its annual showcase event tomorrow at the Ynares Center in Pasig City. The Seaoil High School All-Star Game and the NBTC Finals. The brainchild of Coach-E founder Eric Altamirano and run excellently by training director Alex Compton, the NBTC events are, to say the least, life-changing for many young players.

“We are excited to see the best of the best compete against each other on a national stage. These kids are all graduating from high school and not everyone knows about their talent,” Compton says. “The growth of these young men has been an inspiration to us. The Seaoil High School All-Star Game will be their stage.”

Patterned after the McDonald’s All-American tournament in the US which almost every major basketball star has been through, the NBTC has not just polished players already noticed for their abilities, but it has taken diamonds in the rough and readied them for opportunities to play and get an education in Metro Manila. Among those playing in this year’s tournament are Far Eastern University’s Jerie Pingoy, National University’s Ralph Atangan, Cagayan De Oro National High School’s John Luna, the University of Visayas’ Paul Desiderio and La Salle Greenhills center Andre Paras, son of two-time PBA Most Valuable Player Benjie Paras. Veterans of past NBTC training have gone on to play major roles on contenders in the UAAP and NCAA.

 In the milestone first-ever Seaoil High School All-Star Game, Mapua Institute of Technology’s Ace Basas came out of relative obscurity to take the Most Valuable Player award from more known players like then Xavier Stallion Jeron Teng, Mapua Red Robin JJ Alejandro, and San Beda Red Cub Daryl Nazareno. Basas was then recruited by the Ateneo de Manila Blue Eagles.

It was also during the tryouts for this event where the University of the Philippines spotted Sacred Heart of Cebu’s Henry Asilum. This writer’s sons have both been part of the NBTC experience, and have come out the better for it.

“Since November of 2012, over 200 high school teams from all over the country have been competing for the chance to play in the Seaoil NBTC Jr. National Championship,” Compton explains, citing the support of Seaoil and MVP Sports Foundation. “Sixteen teams remain and in the first three days of March, they will compete for the opportunity to be the best high school team in the Philippines. Skills are being developed, character is being built, and leaders being raised. Yet on March 3rd, only one team can be champion.”

It all begins with the head coaches, who are invited to the NBTC Elite League Coaches Convention, which is mandatory. Beyond the technical training, they get a taste of the professionalism and values being taught. The travel to the national tournament is free, as is the board and lodging. For most of the players, this is their first time to travel outside their provinces and experience a higher level of competition. For many, it is a foretaste of what they can achieve if they set their minds on it. Only a precious few even get that chance.

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This writer would like to congratulate the National Collegiate Basketball League (NCBL) for its successful launch of the Founders Cup at the Technological Institute of the Philippines (TIP) Manila campus yesterday. A simple but meaningful opening ceremony was followed by two games featuring the four member schools, Centro Escolar University, Don Bosco Technical College, Trinity University of Asia and host TIP.

“We are very happy with the turnout. It made all the hard work worth it,” says the indefatigable co-founder and organizer Potit de Vera of the host school. “We really just wanted to have a showcase event to drum up attention for the main tournament slated for July.”

The organizers thanked Athletes in Action, Spalding and Physiotherapy Asia for their support. Games were played for spectators at halftime. Curious TIP students found themselves cheering wildly for their home team the Engineers in their maiden game.

The league, which will play a single-round, home-and-away format, runs until March 15. At least four more schools have committed to participating in July, citing budget constraints. Basketball is a first-semester sport, so budget for the varsity participation in tournaments has usually been depleted by this time of the school year.