Aiming to reach out to more young Filipinos both locally and abroad, the SM-National Basketball Training Center has entered a partnership with Chooks-to-Go, one of the backers of Gilas Pilipinas, for its 12th season.
The formal contract signing between the two entities was held Thursday evening at the office of Bounty Agro Ventures Inc. in Pasig City.
“We’ve been involved with basketball for two years, and it seems like a long time already,” quipped BAVI president Ronald Mascariñas. “The last two years we’ve been supporting Batang Gilas and the Gilas Cadets. It was quite a journey for us. It gave us an opportunity to advance our advocacy in promoting nationalism and sportsmanship.
“I was really impressed with Coach Eric Altamirano’s comprehensive program to promote the grassroots program with the NBTC. It was too good to be true that [there’s] someone in the Philippines who has the heart to promote grassroots basketball. For 2019, we are really ready to back up the NBTC program together with SM,” he added.
With this partnership, Altamirano has laid out the NBTC’s plans for 2019. It will begin with the National Championship this March, which will see more squads composed of young Filipinos both here and abroad. Moreover, the youth league has added a 3×3 nationals to its calendar.
“Aside from having more provincial teams, we will also have a lot of international teams. Last year we had, USA, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia. This year we are happy to have Italy, Guam, and Vancouver,” disclosed Altamirano, the executive director of the NBTC.
“I could also announce that we are also going to have a nationwide 3×3 tournament,” added the decorated head coach.
Besides this, Chooks-to-Go will also be part of programs such as the NBTC Coaching Clinic and the NBTC Elite 60.
“We are happy to announce that Chooks-to-Go will be our title sponsor. It means that it will encompass all the activities we are going to do, including the Coaches Clinic and the Elite 60,” shared Altamirano.
“The NBTC has also been involved with coaching development along with player development. There have been coaching clinics and I know that Coach Eric is as good as example as any in the country,” added Ateneo Blue Eagles head coach Tab Baldwin, who has been the key speaker for the Coaching Clinic over the last two years. “He is someone who has dedicated his life and passion to basketball.
“In order to work with the level the NBTC exists in, you have to have somebody like that.”
