Baguio to host under 16 basketball national finals

TWELVE squads from the different regions of the country are set to strut their wares in the Summer Capital, as Baguio City finally gets to host the 2011 national finals of the Nokia NBTC D-League under 16 tournaments.

The Nokia National Basketball Training Center (NBTC) D-League finals slated Janaury in 2012 will have several teams coming from regional winners representing Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao, and the National Capital Region.

With the national finals to be played here, regional finals for the north Luzon leg will be in San Fernando City in La Union scheduled for the second week of November.

“The national finals will be played from January 20-29 and this early, players from the different areas are already excited to play in the national finals,” said Samahang Basketball ng Pilipinas regional coordinator Danny Soria.

The Nokia NBTC D-League, which virtually serves as a grassroots program in the country, aims to develop top-notch players geared towards the Universities Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP), National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), Philippine Basketball League (PBL), Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) and the Liga Pilipinas.

The tournament will also serve as training ground for young boys to develop their fundamentals in basketball and get them ready for higher levels of the game.

Two national crowns are at stake making the tournament even more competitive as the league field has grown to hundreds of teams from a humble start of only 29 clubs backed by commercial and local government units.

Extensive talent identification camps are currently being conducted by the organizers to help participating teams determine the players who will join their rosters for the upcoming regional eliminations of the NBTC D-League. (Roderick Osis)

Published in the Sun.Star Baguio newspaper on August 12, 2011.