THE Jr. NBA program has been in the Philippines for the past 12 consecutive years, but this year is quite special for its target people: boys and girls aged 10-14.
For the first time in the history of the program here, the young basketball athletes have something to really be excited about. This year’s batch of Jr. NBA All-Stars—whose identities will be known during the National Training Camp from May 17 to 19—will have the rare privilege of participating in the first Jr. NBA Global Championship Asia Pacific Camp, a weeklong event in June that will feature counterpart top youth players in the region.
In those qualifiers, the best players will be chosen from among young ballers from Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines to represent the Asia-Pacific region in the second Jr. NBA Global Championship that will be held at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World near Orlando, Florida, in August. In that August basketball event, the Asia-Pacific representatives will compete with talented youth from the United States, Canada, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, China, Mexico, Africa and India. The teams representing Asia Pacific in the Jr. NBA Global Championship consist of boys and girls from Jr. NBA leagues, clinics and events across six Asian countries.
But before all that happens, Jr. NBA Philippines 2019 presented by Alaska is going through the last phases of its program as we speak. The fifth and last Jr. NBA regional tryouts will be held this weekend at Don Bosco Technical Institute in Makati. Boys and girls who will represent Metro Manila at the national camp will be chosen and will join the other talented young ballers culled from selection camps held in Lucena, Benguet and Dumaguete last March and in Butuan City earlier this month. The National Training Camp will be made up of 80 representatives from North Luzon, South Luzon, the Visayas, Mindanao and the NCR alongside talented ballers chosen at the Alaska Power Camp.
At the regionals, all Jr. NBA participants received world-class basketball instruction and experienced fun basketball activities from Jr. NBA coaches led by Carlos Barroca of the NBA, Philippine Basketball Association Legend Jeffrey Cariaso, Alaska coaches and regional volunteer coaches. Each Regional Selection Camp is two days long, with the first day devoted to vitals tests and skills tests at various stations that test their dexterity in dribbling, passing, shooting, layup and footwork. Top performers on the first day progress to Day Two and are coached on advanced basketball concepts. They also participate in team exercises and scrimmages that help determine who will be chosen to advance to the next stage and represent their region in the national camp.
At the National Training Camp in May, as many as five boys and five girls will be chosen as this year’s Jr. NBA All-Stars and will be sent to the first Jr. NBA Global Championship Asia Pacific Camp, where they will aspire to be part of the team that will represent the Asia-Pacific region in the Global Championship.
The Jr. NBA Global Championship, now only on its second year, is a youth basketball tournament for the top 13 to 14 year old boys and girls from around the world. The tournament has boys and girls divisions, with each division composed of 16 regional champions—eight US teams and eight international teams.
In the US Regionals, eight regional tournaments will be held across the US in the first half of the year with the winning boys and girls teams advancing to the Jr. NBA championship. The NBA introduced a new layer of local competitions, including more than 20 local tournaments—14 of which are hosted by NBA teams in their respective areas—to expand the pool of participating boys and girls teams in the US.
The International Regionals meanwhile leverage on the global reach of the Jr. NBA that reaches 26 million youth in over 70 countries. Eight boy teams and eight girl teams will represent the international regions at the Jr. NBA Global Championship.
More than 300 boys and girls from 35 countries participated in the first Jr. NBA Global Championship in 2018. At that event, all 32 teams got to experience off-court activities that included life skills sessions, Disney park visits, a community service project, and educational meetings that got them in touch with current and former NBA and WNBA players and coaches. In 2018, the Central girls from Kansas City, Missouri, defeated the Europe girls, while the Central boys from Overland Park, Kansas, topped the Africa and Middle East boys team in the global championship games.
You must agree. The very idea of traveling and competing with the best young players in the region after the thrill of making it in the Jr. NBA Philippines Regional Selection Camp is exciting enough for this year’s Jr. NBA National Campers. But the possibility of excelling and making it as a regional representative in the Asia Pacific Camp, then qualifying for the Jr. NBA Global Championship, making new friends, experiencing Disney World, meeting NBA stars and legends, and competing on the world stage is the stuff of dreams. And totally mind-blowing.
This is a lucky batch of Jr. NBA All-Stars indeed! Even past All-Stars like Ricci Rivero, Kobe Paras, Aljun Melecio, Thirdy Ravena, Kiefer Ravena, Aljon Mariano and Kai Sotto did not have this basketball dream to aspire for during their Jr. NBA lifetimes.