Alaxan hoop camp helps countryside players fulfill dreams
THE pool of talents in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) will no longer be an exclusive conclave of players from the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) as proven by the Alaxan FR Galing Mo Training Camp.
The camp is currently conducting a nationwide search for basketball talents and so far, a host of talented players from the countryside have so far made their mark.
Yesterday, the open basketball court in Casuntingan, Mandaue was filled with basketball hopefuls when PBA legends Jojo Lastimosa and Johnny Abarrientos conducted a one-day training camp which selected the top five participants who will represent Cebu in the April 16-20 training camp in Manila.
“This camp is very important because we can gather more talents in basketball aside from those in the UAAP and NCAA. Like me and Jojo (Lastimosa) we started building our dreams in a very simple barangay court that’s why we will be visiting remote barangays in the country to conduct this kind of program,” said Abarrientos.
The five lucky hopefuls who were all from Mandaue City are Jake Cortes (21), Domingo Bucatan (19), Niño Suico (20), Jay Cris Entrampas (21) and Carl Anthony Patindol (18).
The five will join other hopefuls from 10 provinces. The training camp has already visited Bacolod, Ilo-ilo and Dumaguete.
Local basketball stars like Phil Mercader served as coaches to the participants during the training camp which taught them the fundamentals of basketball, drills and training exercises.
In the Manila leg, scouts from different universities and teams will be observing the camp.
The training camp chose Casuntingan, Mandaue as venue after Alaxan built a basketball court in the area through its “Courts of Inspiration” project.
“There will be a lot of surprises waiting for the hopefuls when they got to Manila, but they have to expect also a very disciplined camp there that’s why I strongly advised them to train harder,” said Lastimosa.
Lastimosa said the camp aims to reward those who used the “Courts of Inspiration” to train hard and perfect their skills in basketball. After Cebu, the camp will hit Davao, Cagayan de Oro, Butuan, Sarangani, Tacloban and Zamboanga.
The top 10 participants in the national leg will bring home P10,000 each while P200,000 will go to the barangay of the participant as a financial grant for an infrastructure project. /CORRESPONDENT DALE G. ROSAL
