Alaska Basketball Cup kicks off

CEBU, Philippines - The Alaska Basketball Cup Cebu 2014 (ABCC) will kick off today at the Magis Eagles Arena of the Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu in Canduman, Mandaue City. At least 50 teams in four age groups will see action in the tournament, which is the first partnership between Alaska and the Cebu Youth Basketball League (CYBL).

At a meeting with CYBL coaches, former PBA star and Cebu product Jojo Lastimosa expressed his excitement and gratitude for this first major basketball tournament program for Alaska that is designed to provide a venue of competition all year long.

“We all know that Cebu has a lot of talents waiting to be discovered. If not for Cebu, I wouldn’t have made it to where I am now,” Lastimosa said.

The year-opening tilt will feature four age groups: Under 10, 13, 16 and 19. Games of the Under 10, 13 and 16 will start today while games of the Under 19 age group will start end of February.

Leading the pack is Under 16 defending champion University of the Visayas (UV). They will face stiff competition from National Passerelle runner-up University of San Carlos (USC), which also won over UV at the Cebu Passerelle finals in 2013. SHS-AdC and the rejuvenated Cebu Eastern College sides are expected to play the darkhorse’s role.

SHS-AdC is the defending champion of the Under 13 and 10 age groups. But USC is favored in the Under 13 division owing to their winning the Cebu Under 12/SBP title and placing second in the SBP Visayas Regional Finals. UV and CEC will also be there to challenge the two squads.

A new face in the crowd will be Holy Spirit School of Tagbilaran, which will be joining the tournament for the first time. It’s a wide open race in the Under 10 division as the league welcomes the year’s rookies who will get a taste of basketball action for the first time. The Under 16 and 13 divisions will also feature a Division 2, which is composed of developmental teams and small schools.

Lastimosa bared that they will give importance to character formation as he and the coaches agreed to follow a code of conduct for all coaches. The coaches signed their personal statements to abide by this code. Another new highlight is the “Academic Mythical Five” recognition which will be awarded to the top five student-athletes with the best grades or academic performances on a per age group level. The former USJ-R, Mama’s Love and M. Lhuillier star said the players should always remember that sports and academics can work together to develop one’s character.

The tournament kicks off a year of activities which will also include an ABCC Summer League between April to May and a D-League from August to November. (FREEMAN)