VisMin Super Cup a refuge for displaced cagers

Jobless for almost a year, players from a league that has not resumed operations are starting to knock on the doors of teams in the VisMin Super Cup.

Such is the case of the MJAS Zenith Talisay Aquastars squad, which received countless inquiries if it can still accommodate more players in their lineup.

“Before the (COVID-19) pandemic, the players that we want to get didn’t show a bit of interest. It’s really surprising that now we’ve been getting a lot of calls,” said MJAS Zenith team manager Jhon Santos during the Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum on Tuesday.

The core of the Aquastars used to see action as Valenzuela in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League, which stopped playing after the global health scare forced a series of lockdowns nationwide late March last year.

Until now, almost 400 players from the 31 teams of the MPBL remain inactive since the league backed by Sen. Manny Pacquiao has yet to get a clearance from the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases.

“As much as we want to help them, we cannot accommodate them all,” said Santos, who graced the weekly forum with team sponsor Puma PH senior manager for sales marketing and operations Michael Aldover and MJAS Zenith team captain Paolo Hubalde.

At present, there are 11 teams—six from the Visayas and five from Mindanao—in the VisMin Super Cup, which will kick off its inaugural season with the Visayas bubble in the rustic town of Alcantara in Cebu on April 9.

“Our objective is to help our players earn and provide for their families. This is the main reason why we opted to play in the VisMin Super Cup while waiting for the MPBL to reopen,” said Santos. INQ