Dumaguete venue of final ‘Tryouts ng Bayan’

An opportunity to gain a slot in the men’s or youth national training pool will be the incentive for the close to 40 players coming from all over Visayas and Mindanao who have been invited to attend the Cebuana Lhuillier Tryouts ng Bayan’s final regional tryout.

Set to be held today until Monday at the Lamberto Macias Sports Center in Dumaguete City, the players, a combination of youth and men’s team aspirants, represent the key cities in Visayas and Mindanao like Davao City, Cagayan de Oro, Bacolod, Iloilo, Tacloban, Cebu, and the host city where the RP coaching staff led by Dong Vergeire and Boysie Zamar conducted tryouts in the past for over a month.

The players will be divided into two teams to be coached by Vergeire and Zamar and will play two games to allow the coaching staff to gauge their capabilities and select those who will be brought to Manila for the final tryouts.

RP team manager Jean Henri Lhuillier cited the warm response to the national tryouts as a positive sign towards the eventual integrated program for amateur basketball development in the country, expressing hope at the same time that the politics in basketball be set aside by all concerned.

"We expect to get at least eight to 10 players from Visayas and Mindanao not including those under 20 players who may be drafted for the youth and under 20 pool of players as we have been coordinating with the other national coaches regarding the matter," explained Vergeire.