A LITTLE adjustment here and some tinkering there and the country’s first 3×3 professional league—the Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas 3×3—is good to go on October 21 at the Inspire Academy in Calamba, Laguna.
Just like the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) which is in the process of restarting its stunted Philippine Cup inside the Clark bubble, the Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas 3×3 will hot the road rolling with its inaugural President’s Cup powered by TM.
League owner Ronald Mascariñas thanks the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Disease and its Joint Agreement Order (JAO) group—composed of the Games and Amusements Board, Department of Health and Philippine Sports Commission—for giving the league a provisionary approval to hold its first season from October 16 to 31.
“We are grateful with the IATF and the JAO for giving us the clearance to hold our bubble,” Mascariñas said. “We would also like to thank Sen. [Christopher] Bong Go for helping endorse our request to [open the league].”
“All of us are excited to get the ball rolling for our season,” he added.
The IATF initially declined the league’s original format which followed a home-Inspire Academy-home protocol. The agency stressed the league must be in a bubble venue and in no time at all, Mascariñas and league Commissioner Eric Altamirano heeded the government’s health and safety guidelines.
Under the league’s revised program, all 12 teams will have their final practice at the University of the Philippines Epsilon Chi Center in Quezon City starting from Monday up to Wednesday. After that, everyone involved will undergo swab testing.
From October 8 to 13, everyone will be under pre-bubble home quarantine before another series of swab testing before entering Inspire Academy on October 14 and 15. Teams will then begin practicing from October 16 to 18 in the Laguna venue.
A preseason tournament will be held on October 19 and the league begins with its first leg on October 21. Three more legs will be played on October 23, 25, and 27 with the Grand Finals, which offers a P1 million prize to the champion team, set on October 30.
Everyone in the bubble will be billeted at the Inspire Academy dormitory and they will leave the venue on October 31. They will then undergo a 14-day home quarantine.
The teams competing in the inaugural league—endorsed by the International Basketball Federation—are Zamboanga Chooks-to-Go, Uling Roasters-Butuan City, Bacolod-Masters Sardines, Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards, Palayan City Capitals, Zamboanga Peninsula Valientes MLV, Porac Big Boss Cement MSC, Bicol 3×3 Pro, Pasig Sta. Lucia Realtors, Saranggani Marlins, Pagadian City Rocky Sports and Petra Cement.