Patriots pick Lyceum stude for internship

MANILA, Philippines - As part of their ongoing efforts for youth development in the region, the AirAsia ASEAN Basketball League announced the lucky student who was chosen for a two-month internship program with the AirAsia Philippine Patriots. Lavinia Venus from the University of Lyceum, Manila was chosen out of a number of interested applicants to join the professional basketball team in its efforts to promote the sport in the country.    

Lavinia has been assigned to the marketing department throughout her internship period with the Patriots.  She had her baptism of fire over the weekend when she assisted the Patriots during the AirAsia Airjam basketball clinic held at Caloocan City.

“I am honored to be a part of the AirAsia ASEAN Basketball League Internship Program and been given the chance to work with the AirAsia Philippine Patriots in a professional league,” says Lavinia after being interviewed at the Airjam basketball clinic.

Lavinia was welcomed on board by the AirAsia Philippines Patriots team manager, Erick Arejola as well as assistant team manager Benjo Flores. Also on hand to make her feel at home was PBA legend Billy Ray Bates, who was recently announced as the AirAsia Philippine Patriots’ new skills coach.

The AirAsia ABL Internship Program was launched in March earlier this year aiming to develop the skills and talents of ASEAN youths, by giving university students the opportunity to gain invaluable professional working experience with one of the many AirAsia ABL’s teams, partners and sponsors.

“The unique thing about the AirAsia ABL Internship Programme is that we do not simply offer job placements which are confined within each country, we are offering them regional exposure” Mr. Kuhan Foo, Chief Executive Officer of the AirAsia ASEAN Basketball League commented, “ Although it’s still a relatively young programme, the interns we have found so far has proven its success and we will be continuing this efforts as part of our mission to encourage the development of young adults all across the region”, he added.

The first student successfully chosen to complete AirAsia ABL Internship Program was Miss Editha Botecario from the University of Makati, who was placed for one month at the AirAsia ASEAN Basketball League headquarters in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia in March. During her time with the AirAsia ABL, Editha was exposed to the inner workings of how the professional league is run.

Jacque M. Ruby, from the AirAsia Philppine Patriots commented “This program provides selected students a taste of the real working world, taking them out of their comfort zones. When they graduate and start working full time, it is going to be an easy transition for them. Further, the internship program has been uniquely designed to give them a distinct advantage in sports marketing.”