Empowered commish to oversee secondary schools cage tourney

MANILA, Philippines - It won’t be a lameduck or puppet calling the shots in the Philippine Secondary Schools Basketball Championship (PSSBC) as the league launches its inaugural season with an empowered commissioner at the San Juan Arena on Oct. 28.

PSSBC chairman Dr. Cecilio Pedro said commissioner Ato Badolato has been authorized to act as over-all in charge of the league’s operations with the power to rule on any game-related issue. Badolato, now the UAAP commissioner, said he’ll be ready to serve the PSSBC mandate with a management committee made up of Sunny Co, Bernard Yang, Junel Baculi, Fr. Vic Calvo and Edster Sy and a technical committee composed of Levy Valenzuela and deputy commissioner Jun Cordero.

The UAAP season will end on Sunday if there is a Game 3 in the Finals while the NCAA wraps up its basketball schedule on Oct. 22 at the latest. The teams competing in the PSSBC are the UAAP and NCAA Final 4 qualifiers and the top four finishers of the Metro Manila Tiong Lian Basketball Association (MMTLBA). For the inaugural season, the UAAP will be represented by FEU, NU, UST and Ateneo while the NCAA will be bannered by San Beda, San Sebastian, La Salle Greenhills and Letran. St. Jude begged off from participating, leaving Chiang Kai Shek, Hope Christian and Xavier to represent the MMTLBA.

Badolato said running the PSSBC won’t be any different from his assignments as commissioner of the UAAP and previously, the NCAA. “I’m also the commissioner of the UAAP juniors in all sports,” he said. Badolato, respected in basketball circles for his impartiality, said the PSSBC will gather the top high school teams right after the NCAA and UAAP seasons before the seniors graduate. “In the BAP, they used to hold the National Secondary School Championships in February but that’s too late in the calendar because the graduating seniors will no longer be playing,” he said. “UAAP and NCAA teams are required to use the same lineups for the PSSBC but MMTLBA schools will be allowed to use any of their currently enrolled players. Cut-off birth year for all players is 1994. The PSSBC won’t conflict with the SBP youth program which is based on age groups.”

Pedro announced that for the inaugural season, the champion will receive a prize of P30,000, the runner-up P20,000 and the third placer P10,000. He said the prize money won’t be the driving force for the players to excel. “The key is to give the opportunity for the best high school players to compete,” he said. “At first, we’ll do a Metro Manila tournament. Eventually, we’ll make it nationwide.”

Pedro said the high school platform will serve as a vehicle in the development of promising and gifted young athletes to support the country’s sports programs. “Our goal is to become Asian champion again,” he said. “In China, they begin the talent identification process before kids turn 10. A lot of science is involved in producing top athletes – nutrition, conditioning, strengthening. For our part, we want to provide an avenue for elite teams in the secondary level of different leagues to compete with each other. We want our youth to excel and develop their skills in preparation for the collegiate level.”

There will be only seven playing days from Oct. 28 to Dec. 2. The 11 teams will be split into two groups to play a single round-robin with the top four placers advancing to the knockout quarterfinals. The survivors move on to play in the knockout semifinals where the losers battle for third and the winners vie for the championship. 

A coaches meeting is set Oct. 16 at the conference room of the Chiang Kai Shek campus. PSSBC vice chairman Dioceldo Sy has invited SBP executive director Sonny Barrios to deliver a message during the opening ceremony. The PSSBC Board of Governors is composed of Pedro of Hapee Toothpaste, Sy of Ever Bilena, Edward Tio of Freego and Wrangler, Jimmy de la Cruz of Jumbo Plastic Linoleum, Jimmy Lim of Ironcon Builders, Leoncio Chua of MEC, Rudy Yu of Dickies Underwear and Terry Que of Welcoat and Rain Or Shine.

“The league was Edward’s idea,” said Sy. “We were talking one day about organizing a league for the top high school teams. Since we all love basketball, we want to make it work. During our high school days, we played against each other. Edward played for Chiang Kai Shek and I played for UNO. They beat us in the Tiong Lian finals. Edward’s team Freego used to play in the PBA D-League.”

Badolato said he doesn’t think the UAAP and NCAA will ever merge. “Maybe, because of pride,” he said. “Or they have their own markets. This season, the NCAA high school league seems stronger than the UAAP. It’s a good idea for a league like the PSSBC to get the top teams together.”

Pedro said he’d like to create a similar developmental platform for swimming but at the moment, the vehicle is the PSSBC because “we’re a basketball-loving country.” Unlike Sy who owns the Blackwater team in the PBA D-League, Pedro said he’s not inclined to join despite Hapee Toothpaste’s championship history in the defunct PBL. “A lot of PBA teams are bankrolling the D-League teams,” said Pedro. “It’s hard to compete for players.” Sy said Blackwater strictly abides by the salary cap of P30,000 a month, adding to move towards parity, the D-League might consider a draft to avoid the top amateur players signing up with the perennial title contenders.