Salud lauds Youngstars, Batang PBA cagefests

MANILA, Philippines - Commissioner Chito Salud said yesterday the PBA is committed to stage the Youngstars National Championships in the 13-16 age group and the Batang PBA tournament in Metro Manila in the 9-12 category every year as the much-awaited summer events are a way of giving back to the community in appreciation for supporting the 40-year-old league.

“It’s a new generation of players and fans we are addressing,” said Salud. “Over the last three years, Coca-Cola has sponsored the Youngstars. We actually started the Batang PBA program in 2005 and now, we hold both events every summer. We’re very happy with the success of the tournaments which enjoy tremendous support from LGUs. It’s an annual commitment of the PBA. We’re just so elated to give kids a taste of the PBA style of play with all the fanfare.”

Last Saturday, Cebu defeated Batangas City, 95-83, to capture the Coca-Cola Youngstars crown at the Mall of Asia Arena. It was the culmination of a long grind that began last April with over 12,000 players from about 900 teams participating in the Northern Luzon, NCR, Southern Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao eliminations.

“The PBA distributed more than 2,500 uniforms all over the country for the Coca-Cola Youngstars,” said PBA media bureau chief Willie Marcial. “The response was overwhelming. We wouldn’t have been able to organize such a successful national tournament without the support of Danny Soria, Alan Trinidad, Rep. Amado Bagatsing, Rep. Pidi Barzaga, Mayor Eduardo Dimacuha, Roel Garcia, Gherome Ejercito, Tony Agustin, Stephen La Cuesta, Board Member Yayoy Alcoseba, Willie Generalao, Rico Navarro and Pete Alfaro.”

From the five leg eliminations, 14 survivors advanced to the regional finals. They were University of Cordilleras, Divine Word Academy and Pampanga Team A in Northern Luzon, Valenzuela and Kabaka Manila in NCR, Dasmarinas, Batangas City and Calamba in Southern Luzon, Taytung High School of Bacolod, Ateneo de Iloilo and University of Visayas Lancers of Cebu in the Visayas and Fort Academy, Assumption Montessori of Cagayan de Oro and Southern City Colleges of Zamboanga in Mindanao. The six national finalists were Pampanga Team A, Valenzuela, Kabaka Manila, Batangas City, Cebu and Assumption Montessori.

Marcial said the six national finalists were billeted at the Fersal Hotel in Cubao with the PBA footing the bill for lodging, food and transportation over 10 days. Provincial teams were flown into Manila at the PBA’s expense. The teams played a round-robin with Cebu and Batangas finishing with identical 4-1 records. The top two finishers then squared off in the finals.

“The PBA would like to thank Coca-Cola vice president Adel Tamano for going all-out to sponsor the Youngstars Championships,” said Marcial. “Every player got Coca-Cola bags, shirts and uniforms. The experience was unforgettable for the boys as they played under PBA conditions with a barker, game music, PBA referees and table officials. Highlights of the games were featured at the halftime of PBA games on TV. The kids were also special guests during live PBA games. For sure, many of the Youngstars will become future stars. Some of our Youngstars graduates are Kiefer and Thirdy Ravena, Kobe and Andre Paras and the Nieto brothers.”

Cebu’s Theo Joshua Flores was named MVP and led the Mythical First Five joined by teammate Jifford Aljon Cajigas, Valenzuela’s Juan Carlo Garcia and Raphael Jose Chavez and Victor John Alarcon of Batangas City.     

The Batang PBA tournament, sponsored by Gatorade, was just as exciting, said Marcial. “The kids were very eager to learn and the experience will go a long way in improving their skills,” he said. “In all, there were 12 teams in the tournament and 10 of them wore the colors of the 10 PBA teams like the Las Pinas Batang Air21 Express, Malabon Batang Alaska Aces, San Juan Batang Barako Bull, Pasig Batang Meralco, Antipolo City Batang San Mig Coffee and Marikina Batang Globalport. The boys wore the uniform numbers and names of the PBA players whose teams they played for so that Javi Jugo of Antipolo wore No. 18 with Yap on his back and Carlos Sario, Jr. of Pasig wore No. 20 with Dillinger on his back.”

Some PBA players’ sons were in Batang PBA lineups, including Joachin Eddie Laure of Pasig and Gabe Raymundo and Will Miller of Taguig. Globalport owner Mikee Romero’s son Santi was in the Marikina roster while Globalport Governor Erick Arejola’s son Champ was in the Las Pinas team.

Coach Lou Gatumbato’s Taguig Batang PBA Stalwarts of Mayor Lani Cayetano won the championship with coach Andrew Estrella’s Antipolo squad of Mayor Jun-Jun Ynares finishing second. Coaches of the other teams included John Teope of San Juan, Mark Herrera of Quezon City, Dong Fernandez of Las Pinas, Dathe Intalan of Pasig and Sonny Manucat of Marikina.