10th Jr. NBA PH kicks off

Alaska Milk president and CEO Fred Uytengsu, left, with NBA Philippines managing director Carlo Singson during the launch of the 10th Jr. NBA at Don Bosco Makati. Bong Lozada/INQUIRER.net

It’s now officially a decade.

The Jr. NBA is on its 10th reiteration in the Philippines and its latest edition tipped off on Saturday at Don Bosco Makati with NBA Philippines managing director Carlos Singson and Alaska Milk president and CEO Fred Uytengsu ushering in the new season. 

The NBA’s global youth program operates to influence kids to play basketball and encourage them to follow a credo fittingly labeled as “Star” which stands for “Sportsmanship, Teamwork, positive Attitude, Respect.” 

“We seek to encourage the youth not only to learn the Star values of NBA and Jr. NBA and our desire to incorporate nutrition into an active lifestyle,” said Uytengsu, whose corporation has been a partner of the NBA Philippines for seven years.

“The values they earn here are life lessons and it’s something to teach the youth. We want to inculcate into our youth the lessons.”

Jr. NBA Philippines is free and open to boys and girls ages 10 to 14 and the participants will have to participate in skills clinics in their schools and communities then those who will be picked will move to the Regional Selection Camps.

Those who are chosen in the regionals will advance to the National Training Camp where a select few will get to experience a trip to watch an NBA game.

The skills clinics will be held from January to April in Bacolod, Batangas, Cagayan De Oro, Cavite, Cebu, Metro Manila, and Subic.

Cagayan De Oro will host the first regionals on Feb. 11 and 12, and then Lucena will have its turn from Feb. 25 to 26 with Cebu holding its clinics from March 11 to 12.

Metro Manila will have its regionals on April 1 and 2 with the top 37 boys and girls from all the regionals advancing to the National Training Camp on May 12 through 14 in the nation’s capital.

The field will then be reduced to 16, eight per gender, and those chosen will go to an overseas NBA trip where they will join fellow Jr. NBA All-Stars from neighboring Southeast Asian countries.