START ‘em young.
The cool dudes and young ‘uns will be strutting their wares in a 12-and-under summer basketball tournament slated to start on Saturday, April 18, at the Letran Gym in Intramuros, Manila.
Eight prominent schools from the Metro Manila area are taking part in the Beato Antonio Varona Invitational League competitions that are geared to find more youthful athletes that could one day even represent the country in the various age groups tournaments held overseas.
The eight schools that will see action during the weekend (Saturdays and Sundays) tourney are Philadelphia School, Chiang Kai Shek College, Saint Stephen’s High School, De La Salle University, University of Santo Tomas, Ateneo de Manila University, Adamson University and organizing host Colegio de San Juan de Letran.
“The tournament provides young basketeers an opportunity to experience real competition at a tender age,” said coach RJ Guevara from Letran. “More exposure can only enhance their playing skills.”
This is also one of the reasons why the Burlington Socks-supported Philadelphia School, which is based in Talayan Village, Quezon City, is fielding a team of battle-ready greenhorns in the four-week festivities.
“Exposure is the best teacher,” declared Panthers head coach Simon Sim and his assistants Angelo So and Shaun Sim as the team prepares to do war against their peers following a four-times-a-week training since a month ago.
“Moreover, I expect my boys to play to the best of their ability without regard to the result. So long as sportsmanship reigns in the league, no one loses. In the end, everybody wins,” added Simon Sim.
The 16-boy strong Philadelphia squad is composed of Drake Cabiltes, Joshua Lim, Homer Tan, Melvin Ko, Harvey Tan, Aljirah Ressurrecicon, Marcus Ko, Mark Timothy Julao, Linus Chung, Cullen Co, Jenson Ong, Andrei Eugenia, Justin Miguel Liao, Michael Burga, Klein Chua, and Jaspher Fernando.