Ninong of collegiate basketball

Development of local sports during these past years has been dependent on the generosity of private individuals and groups imbued with a genuine passion for specific sports discipline. And mostly being in business, these recognized ‘ninongs’ or godfathers have managed to combine their love and support for their favorite game with the marketing and promotional requirements of their respective line of businesses.

Chito Villavicencio, chairman and founder of Villavicencio group of companies is turning out to be one of the steadfast supporters of collegiate basketball. Thru the FilOil Flying V Sports, the team headed by Chito’s son, Raffy, and ably assisted by sportsman Virgil Villavicencio and veteran marketing man David Dualan, generous support have been extended to the promotion and development of collegiate basketball.

The support to basketball does not come merely in the form of financial handouts. The FilOil Flying V Sports has developed a comprehensive calendar of competitive activities and has linked them with the marketing plans of Villavicencio companies such as FilOil and Flying V, both aggressive traders and marketers in the petroleum industry.

As Virgil succinctly put it, “our involvement in basketball must make marketing sense.”

FilOil Flying V Pre-Season Invitational Cup

The FilOil Flying V Pre-Season Invitational Cup, one of the major basketball events in the collegiate scene organized, managed and funded by the Villavicencio group of companies, will kick off its second year of competitions on April 13, 2008 at Ultra, Pasig City.

This year’s competition will include the following teams from both the UAAP and NCAA: La Salle, UE, Ateneo, FEU, NU, Adamson, UP, San Beda, Letran, JRU, Mapua, San Sebastian, University of Perpetual Help and College of St. Benilde.

Under the tournament format, the above teams are divided into two groups and teams in one group will play against teams from the other group during the elimination phase. In the quarterfinals, team ranked number 1 and number 2 in each group will meet with team 4 and team 3, respectively in a knockout (loser go home) game with the winners advancing to the semifinal phase. In the Finals, the group winners will compete in a single game to determine the champion and the first runner-up.

According to David Dualan, the teams that participated last year found the tournament very useful in preparing the teams for the regular season games. It afforded the coaching staff more opportunities to assess and evaluate the readiness of their players, particularly the rookies, for the long drawn out and intense competitions in the UAAP and NCAA.

The opening games on Sunday will feature Jose Rizal Heavy Bombers versus the UAAP defending champion, De La Salle Green Archers in the first game with the Ateneo Blue Eagles battling with previous arch-rival, San Beda Red Lions, the defending NCAA champion.

Smart and Canopy Homes are the early sponsors that joined Flying V and FilOil in this first major event for the 2008 collegiate season.

Philippine Collegiate championship games

A major step taken by FilOil Flying V Sports and the Villavicencio group of companies last year was to tie-up with the Philippine Collegiate Champions League and become the title sponsor of the collegiate national championship for 2007 and 2008.

Last year’s FilOil Flying V “Sweet 16” Finals champion was Ateneo Blue Eagles after winning their knockout games against San Sebastian College Stags, JRU Heavy Bombers, UST Growling Tigers and in the Finals, against the University of Visayas Green Lancers.

The collegiate championship this year is bigger and broader in scope with multi-levels competition on a nationwide scale. More than 200 teams from nine regional areas are expected to participate. The road to the national championship will include regional and zonal championships with the qualifying teams joining the FilOil Flying V “Sweet 16” Final Challenge scheduled to be held in Manila starting the third week of November.

In signing the MOA with the Champions League, Chito Villavicencio remarked that just like in business, competition draws the best from the competing teams and that if collegiate basketball is to flourish and grow there must be in place regular competitive tournaments that will require the best performance from each team.

Chito agreed with the concept that the collegiate competitions being conducted all over the country during the season should culminate in a tournament where the best meet each other to proclaim “the best among the best.”

He also observed that at the moment the teams from Metro Manila leagues, particularly the UAAP and NCAA, may have an edge over the other teams from the provinces, but given the right exposure and motivation, provincial teams will eventually give the Manila teams some competitive pressure.

Filoil Flying V scholarships and other incentives

As organizer and title sponsor of two of the major collegiate basketball events, the Pre-Season Tournament and the “Sweet 16” Final Challenge of the Champions League, the Villavicencio group of companies through the Fil-Oil/Flying V Sports have allocated in their marketing budget several million pesos of sponsorship money for these activities.

During the 2007 collegiate championship, for instance, the Villavicencio group of companies provided transportation and accommodation for the trip to Manila of the  qualified teams from the provinces, namely, University of Visayas, University of Mindanao, West Negros College and Sacred Heart College of Tacloban,

Apart from trophies and medals, grants and scholarships were also given to the winning schools as follows: Ateneo, P500,000, University of Visayas, P200,000, STI Colleges, P100,000 and University of Santo Tomas, P50,000.

For Chito Villavicencio and his team, this is money well spent. It gives them the marketing exposure necessary for their business and also makes them feel good as they are doing it “for the love of the game.”

Should you wish to share any insights, write me at Link Edge, 25th Floor, 139 Corporate Center, Valero Street, Salcedo Village, 1227 Makati City. Or e-mail me at [email protected] or at [email protected].