MVP Sports Foundation (MVPSF) Community Sports and Youth Development head Oscar "Jang" Moreno is confident that the recent partnership between them and the Cebu Youth Basketball League (CYBL) that has birthed the MVPSF Youth Basketball League-Cebu (MYBL-Cebu) would "bring it to greater heights."
With the MYBL-Cebu set to kick off on Sunday morning, Oct. 27, 2019, at the Magis Eagles Arena inside the Ateneo de Cebu campus in Canduman, Mandaue City, top honchos from the MVPSF as well as the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) arrived in Cebu to talk about the league and their plans for it.
"The CYBL is a blessing. It fell on my lap and I saw how big this grassroots program is and saw how well it is being run. It was a no-brainer to partner with the CYBL," said Moreno. "We want to strengthen this program to bring it to greater heights."
Moreno disclosed that one of the new features the MYBL-Cebu would have is complete statistical coverage, which would be a key in helping to identify and monitor the development of the young athletes.
"Data gathering and analytics are important now. We can identify talent but monitoring them is a different story. These are some of the things we want to focus on and we are very excited for these. We can see greater things ahead for CYBL, MVPSF and ultimately, for the country," Moreno added.
Antonio, who is one of the driving forces behind the Gilas program, said this league, which considers current PBA players Paul Desiderio, Roger Pogoy and Ron Dennison as alumni, could soon provide national teams with more elite players.
"The elite don't become elite right away. They have to come from somewhere. If they are not taught well and given exposure at an early stage, it might be difficult especially in this age when everything happens quickly," said Antonio. "We are planting the right seeds to ensure continuity, to make sure talent is found, developed and discovered so that the growth of the sport would continue."
Some 109 teams are set to compete in three age groups — the under 12, the under 15 and under 18 divisions. Before the games start on Sunday, an exhibition game featuring MYBL-Cebu and a team bannered by Cebu City Councilor Dondon Hontiveros and Talisay City Mayor Samsam Gullas will be played at 9 a.m.
