MANILA, Philippines — In every business venture, it's difficult to be fully committed at the start. Most of the time, we find stakeholders playing safe and limiting their investments in the early stages of their journey.
But for newly established youth hoops league Batang Pilipino Basketball League (BPBL), there was no question that they wanted to pull out all the stops in their very first season.
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A venture created during the pandemic, the BPBL is set to end its maiden season with a bang with the national eliminations and finals set in San Juan next week with around 500 hoopers from all around the Philippines set to lock horns.
Fourteen boys teams and 11 girls teams are set to strut their stuff after going through a rigid qualifying process that saw a whopping 195 teams and over 10,000 participants of 18-year-old cagers and below from 13 regions in the country.
With the youth in mind, BPBL founder Jun Ebdane said that there was no going around it — they needed to reach every nook and crany of the country to help the communities through basketball.
"Actually nung naguusap kami ni Commissioner Ron [Camara], ang plano namin sana is dito lang sana sa Metro Manila pero since nakikita namin, napag-usapan namin na yung problema sa mga kabataan na lululong sila sa mga gadgets, at wala na silang sports activities lalo na during pandemic, so parang tinanong namin yung sarili namin, bakit hindi natin gawin buong Pilipinas nalang diba?" Ebdane said during a media conference at Romulo Cafe in Quezon City on Friday.
"Kumbaga, na-adapt lang namin siguro yung why not mentality. Kumbaga, yun naman yung gusto natin eh, makatulong sa mga kabataan," he added.
The BPBL boasts of a diverse set of cagers from various parts of the country to participate in the nationtals. Represented in the three-day hoops fest are Ilocos (Region 1), Pampanga (Region 3), Baguio and Benguet (Cordillera), Batangas (Region IV-A), Catanduanes (Region 5), Aklan (Region 6), Cebu (Region 7), Ormoc (Region 8), Misamis Oriental and Bukidnon (Region 10), Davao City (Region 11), Cotabato and General Santos (Region 12), BARMM as well as NCR North and South.
Unique to the BPBL as well is the inclusion of hoopers that are out of school youth, and those who are not afforded the same opportunities as those who get scouted by UAAP and NCAA coaches.
Commissioner Camara mentioned that they expect scouts from various colleges and universities from the country to tune in to the competition and hopefully find one of their future stars among its ranks.
Knowing what kind of platform they can give, Ebdane said that the BPBL plans to give their all in uplifting the youth's lives.
"Hindi lang naman yung kabataan sa Metro Manila yung nangangailangan ng tulong, so gawin na natin buong Pilipinas ito," he said.
As for the program's sustainability, they announced that a second season is already in the works with its Level 1 and Level 2 competitions set to begin in the summer time.
For Camara, the certainty of the BPBL's continuous holding encourages the youth to keep themselves ready for the opportunities that may come.
"Nagsisimula na sila mag-ensayo sa BPBL kasi ineexpect nila na malapit na yung second season," he said.
Hosting the league in San Juan are the San Juan Gym, Ronac Art Center, Greenhills West Basketball Court and Filoil EcoOil Centre from January 27-29.