RP basketball’s newest patrons

Nokia Philippines and one of its top distributors, Tao Corp., are embarking on an ambitious program to bring back the glory days of Philippine basketball – when the country lorded it over its Asian rivals and gained a highly-coveted berth in the Olympics.

Both have agreed to bankroll P75 million for a three-year training program designed to put together a core unit that will compete in local and international tournaments as the Nokia Pilipinas RP Youth Team.

“We found the project interesting, so we agreed to sponsor it,” Nokia Philippines general manager William Hamilton-Whyte points out. The project is in partnership with the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas – Basketball Association of the Philippines (SBP-BAP).

He adds the program represents a good mix of Nokia’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) thrusts as it seeks to help talented youth in the provinces gain recognition in the popular sports and, at the same time, help the Philippines revive its former status as an Asian basketball powerhouse.

“Nokia wants to give something back to the Philippines and we think this program is a good start,” Whyte notes. “One team, one dream. Whatever trials we face, we face together. Whatever honors we gain, we share together.”

Nokia and Tao Corp., represented by its president Jun Sy, will bankroll the training expenses, housing needs and education of the youth squad over a three-year period, including an intensive two-week training course at Abunassar Impact Basketball Camp in Carson City, California, the same training center used by professional players in the National Basketball Association (NBA).

The team will be coached by former professional player and current Dela Salle mentor Franz Pumaren, assisted by his younger brother Dindo, Sandy Arespacochaga and Jack Santiago.

The players – all 18 years old and below – were chosen by the National Basketball Training Center (NBTC), headed by another former professional player and coach Eric Altamirano, from among the collegiate ranks in the country’s different regions.

The NBTC is the sole body in charge of choosing 40 male and female basketball players who will represent the country in future international tournaments.

The Nokia Pilipinas RP Youth squad is currently in the middle of preparations for the Asian Youth Championship to be held starting August 28 in Teheran, Iran.

The team earned the ticket to participate in the Asian Youth Championship when it recently won the SEABA Junior Men’s basketball crown in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It was the first international championship for the Philippines since the country was suspended by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) two years ago.

From an initial 30 players chosen from the pool, the team has been reduced to 15, composed of Fil-foreigners Kyle Nicolas Pascual and Norberto Bryan Torres, new recruit Ian Paul Sangalang, Ryan Roose Garcia, Jed Manguera, Mark Anthony Lopez, Jaypee Mendoza, Samuel Joseph Marata, Frank Golla Jr., Mark Joel de Guzman, Joseph Emmanuel Tolentino, Gabriel Banal, Joseph Terso, Mark Joven Mendoza and Philip Paredes.

Serving as an added training ground for the Nokia Pilipinas Junior Men’s team is a stint with the Philippine Basketball League as a guest squad in the prestigious amateur event.

BAP-SBP executive director Patrick Gregorio says the idea of putting up a team this early and developing these players at a young age is to immediately prepare them for major international tournaments.

“The most important thing is to establish chemistry among them,” he points out. “By 2009, we are hoping to have a team capable of doing good in the 2010 world championship qualifier.”

The same team will also play in the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, China.

The Philippines’ ultimate goal however, is to compete in the 2012 Olympics. If this pushes through, then it would be the country’s first basketball appearance in the world’s biggest sports spectacle since the 1972 Munich Games.