SBP Passerelle Basketball

What do Chris Tiu, Kiefer Ravena, the Teng brothers Jeric and Jeron, Cebu’s Paul Desiderio, Henry Asilum, Dawn Ochea and a host of other college players have in common? For one, they all didn’t become basketball stars overnight. They all grew up playing basketball up through the years, maturing and developing their skills slowly but surely in their younger years. Before they became household names in the UAAP, NCAA or CESAFI, they harnessed their talents and skills in the SBP and Passerelle leagues. “SBP? Passerelle? What’s that?” you might ask.

The SBP and Passerelle divisions are the two major age groups of basketball that are played at the annual BEST Center SBP Passerelle Twin Tournaments back-stopped by Milo. The SBP stands for Small Basketeers Philippines. Even before it became the initials of the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas, SBP was already a byword in youth basketball. The SBP division is for players in the Under 12, 11 and 10 age groups. Players here are grade school students between Grades 3 and 4 until 6. On the other hand, the Passerelle division is for players in the Under 15, 14 and 13 age groups. They are players between Grades 7-9 in high school. These age groups are the stepping stones into the Juniors / high school division of basketball which is composed of Under 18 and 17 players. If you conduct a survey among UAAP and NCAA players today, you’ll discover an interesting statistic that around 80-90% of them once played in either the Passerelle or SBP division, or both.

This season’s SBP Passerelle games have kicked off with the Manila tournament launched two weeks ago. The rest of the country have now followed with the Cebu tournament kicking off yesterday at the University of San Carlos (USC) North Campus Gym. All these provincial legs will move on to a regional finals and eventually a national finals that will see the nation’s best young players face off against each other. On the local level, USC is defending its Cebu and Visayas SBP division championships from 2012. The Baby Warriors were runner-up to La Salle Greenhills at the national finals. Out to give them a tough challenge are 2012 runner-up Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu (SHS-AdC) and darkhorses Cebu Eastern College and the University of the Visayas (UV). The other teams are the University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) and the Don Bosco Technology Center (DBTC). The SBP division has been dominated by USC and SHS-AdC for the past decade with the Magis Eagles winning the Cebu championship in 2007, 2010 and 2011. USC won the SBP championship in 2008, 2009 and 2012. But this year’s tournament doesn’t guaranty a USC or SHS-AdC title. CEC and UV have stepped up with their programs over the past two years and are capable of breaking into the top this year.

UV is the defending Cebu and Visayas champion of the Passerelle division. They also finished second to La Salle Greenhills at the national finals of 2012. Although being a relatively newcomer into the scene, the Baby Lancers have made an impact, winning the title in only their third year of existence. They also scored a national championship at the 2011 SBP National Under 16 Championship. Last year’s runner-up USC is the pre-tournament favorite this year with its line-up bolstered by the strength of the USC network. SHS-AdC, which won five straight Cebu Passerelle championships from 2007-2011 is seeking to bounce back from its third place finish last year. CEC will again be there to round up the top four. The other challenge will come from USJ-R, DBTC and Southwestern University. Games of the SBP Passerelle tournament will run from July to September, with the Visayas Regional Finals set in Iloilo in October and the national finals to be played in November in San Fernando, Pampanga.

As you’ll hear about the SBP and Passerelle schools competing for prominence, one can’t help but notice that these are also the same schools who have won the high school division championships of the CESAFI (which kicks off on August 3). SHS-AdC won its first ever CESAFI championship last year, with all but one of its players coming from the Passerelle and SBP ranks. UV was runner-up last year and the CESAFI champion in 2011. CEC won its CESAFI title in 2010. In both 2010 and 2011, SHS-AdC was the runner-up.

The SBP Passerelle tournament is actually just one major element of the calendar of activities of the Cebu Youth Basketball League (CYBL) which has lined up a series of tournaments throughout the year. The past two years have seen the Cebu SBP Passerelle segment grow that it now has a D-League, a developmental league composed of the Team B’s of most schools and the smaller schools of Cebu. Other activities include a CYBL tournament from January to March, the Coca Cola PBA Youngstars Tournament in April and the CYBL Vismin Goodwill Games in May.

So buckle up. Things are just getting started with another schoolyear of basketball fun in age group basketball.

***

Time-out: We’re asking all to pray for the soul of the late Pedro D. Cal who passed away last Wednesday. >>> You can reach me at [email protected].