A YOUNG talent following the footsteps of Filipino wunderkind Kai Sotto or National Basketball Association No. 2 overall pick Jalen Green, a Filipino-American, can come from anywhere in the world.
To make it happen, the National Basketball Training Center (NBTC) is putting up a stage for young ballers all over the globe to show off their skills in the form of the Global Games tipping off in 2022.
“It has always been NBTC’s aim to identify, develop, and hone the best Filipino talents both here and abroad,” said program director Eric Altamirano in the initiative’s launch via Zoom on Monday. “We’re hoping that the NBTC Global Games will open the door for hundreds of players overseas to showcase their talents and widen the pool for our national youth team.”
Before signing with the Adelaide 36ers in the Australian National Basketball League, Sotto saw action in several NBTC League National Finals.
The same went for new Houston Rocket Green who came back home in 2018-19 to play with and against the top talent in the Philippines.
Now, young Filipino talents will not need to fly to Manila to start making a name for themselves as the NBTC will oversee seven qualifiers in six countries. The US will organize one tournament apiece for the East and West Coasts, while Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Italy-Europe and Dubai will each host one of their own.
“Imagine, before, we only identify select countries, but now, with the opening of the Global Games, hundreds of potential talented players can be identified and put on the radar,” Altamirano said. “The network is broader in terms of talent identification.”
In past years, the NBTC has provided an avenue for Filipino-foreign players to be recognized and recruited. Just a few of NBTC alumni now with collegiate teams are Matthew Daves (Canada), Eli Ramos (US) and Kai Balunggay (US) of Ateneo, Jasper Rentoy (Australia) of University of the East and James Canlas (Canada) of San Beda.
Through the Global Games, the hope is for that number to double or triple, as in the US alone, at least 40 teams from each coast have already expressed interest.
The winners in qualifiers will book a ticket to the NBTC League National Finals, which will return in March 2023, still at the MOA Arena. There, the best of the best from overseas will take on the cream of the crop of the Philippines.