When one talks about Cebu Basketball, the name of M. Lhuillier will always be there. Basketball fans know how the M. Lhuillier group of companies has dominated the commercial scene outside of Manila for the past decade or two. They’ve been to the Philippine Amateur Basketball League (PABL), the predecessor of the PBL. They’ve also played in the CBL, CBF, NBC, MVBA and Liga Pilipinas, collecting championship trophies left and right. After winning titles consistently for the past 20 years, people ask what else is there for M. Lhuillier to do? Join the PBA? Possible, but it’s going to be a very expensive ordeal. Other options? How about supporting grassroots basketball among the youth? Truly more possible, cheaper with a great chance to establish goodwill with schools and sports fans.
For the second straight year, ML Kwarta Padala has gone out to support the Cebu Youth Basketball League (CYBL), the biggest age group basketball tournament in Cebu today. The tournament is aptly called the ML Kwarta Padala Cup 2011. The tournament, which started with 12 teams in 2008, has drawn some 35 teams coming from 14 schools. The teams will play in three age groups: 16-Under, 13-Under and 10-Under.
The 16 and 13 Under age groups are divided into two divisions based on competitive level and basketball program. There is a Division A for stronger teams, and a Division B for the smaller schools and Team B’s of the traditional basketball powerhouses. The “second” division was created to give the smaller schools a chance to play competitive ball and gain the much-needed exposure to grow. This same exposure is also needed for the Team B’s of the bigger schools with bigger basketball programs. The main show, however is still in Division A play.
Grouped in the 16 Under Division-A are University of San Carlos (USC) South-A, Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu (SHS-AdC), USC North, Cebu Eastern College (CEC), University of the Visayas (UV) and University of San Jose Recoletos (USJR). All are also members of the CESAFI. The 16 Under Division B has a total of ten teams split into two sub-brackets. Composing 16-Under Div. B1 are SHS-AdC-B, USC South-B, CVIRAA, Philippine Christian Gospel School (PCGS) and University of Southern Philippines Foundation (USPF). In the 16-Under Division B2 are PAREF Springdale, USC North-B, Centre for International Education (CIE), Marian Childhood Education Center (MCEC) and the Cebu Institute of Technology-University (CIT-U).
The 13-Under Division A is composed of USC South-A/B-Meg, SHS-AdC, USC North, CEC, USJR and UV. The 13-Under Division B has seven teams in USC North-B, USC South-B, SHS-AdC-B, USJR-B, St. Paul Learning Center and PAREF Springdale. The biggest draw of the tournament in terms of fans and supporters are those in the B-Meg 10-Under division featuring SHS-AdC, USC South-A, USC North, USJR, CEC and USC South-B.
The tournament was launched yesterday with a 14-game sked at the SHS-AdC Mango Campus Gym, with all three courts utilized to accommodate all the games. This is the biggest in terms of team participation ever since those 12 teamed the first CYBL tournament in 2008. The big idea before was to provide a second semester activity for the Under 16/15 age group segments after their stints in the annual Milo BEST tournament which takes place in the first semester of the schoolyear. On the bigger scale, the goal is to improve the competitive level of basketball among the youth here in Cebu since we’re now left behind by the development of basketball in Manila. Cebu schools these days aren’t given the fighting chance of competing with those from Manila, and we’ve seen this in our performances in the Champions’ League and the National Basketball Training Center (NBTC) D-League. Part of the answer to the solution is simply more basketball activity, especially at the age group levels. More tournament activity means more sharpening of the saw for players and coaches alike. When this takes place, we have a sharper unit of basketball players and coaches. One of the bonuses to all this is that the kids have fun, spending their weekends more productively.
But none of this would’ve been possible without the support of ML Kwarta Padala. This season has also drawn the support of a co-sponsor in B-Meg and Ave Maria Sanctuary Park. Pardon the “bias” for now, but as an advocate of youth sports, we’re happy and proud to be part of this undertaking, and with your prayers, we should be on the right track.
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