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| LA Lakers Guard Kobe Bryant chats with one of the Jr. NBA Philippines All-Stars. (Image courtesy of NBA Asia) |
Samuel Abuhijleh of the San Beda Red Cubs, Vince Ferrer of the UST Baby Tigers, younger brother of Growling Tiger Kevin Ferrer; Miguel Fortuna of De La Salle Zobel and kid brother of UST alumnus Jeric Fortuna; Marco Sario also of DLSZ, Gian Mamuyac of the Ateneo Blue Eaglets, Ricci Rivero of La Salle Greenhills, Tyler Tio of Xavier School, Pawandeep Singh of Systems Plus School, Pampanga, Anthony Sistoza of General Santos City and Mahloney Tarranza of Davao are in Los Angeles for their NBA experience – watched an NBA game live, visited Universal Studios, played friendly games with counterpart junior teams in LA, went on city tours and shopping, shopping, shopping.
The Jr. NBA contingent, which was accompanied by the Jr. NBA Philippines 2013 Coach of the Year, Raymon Mercader of Cagayan de Oro and Alaska-Jr. NBA Philippines coach Jojo Lastimosa left for LA on Friday November 15 and straightaway experienced what could be the most thrilling experience of their young lives. In an unprecedented development for Jr. NBA Philippines All Stars on tour, this batch was called out to center court of the Staples Center in between the first and second quarters of the Los Angeles Lakers-Memphis Grizzlies game. They received a cash donation of $150,000 on behalf of the Philippine National Red Cross from the Los Angeles Lakers for the victims of super typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) and were applauded by the crowd.
The Jr. NBA players had another special memory to savor of the trip. They were given the opportunity to take on the Staples Center court one more time when they were invited to a shoot-around session with Lakers players after the LA-Memphis game.
On Day 3, the Jr. NBA All Stars played the Maranatha Christian High School Varsity Basketball team and learned new ways to measure their skill sets against the bigger, heftier players aged 15 to 17 years old. The Jr. NBA All Stars lost, 66-93.
The all-expenses paid trip is the reward that the boys got for topping the National Training Camp of Jr. NBA Philippines 2013, a 4-month program consisting of coaches clinics and school clinics in selected key cities, Regional Selection Camps that culled the best performing players aged 10-14 from the different regions, and an intensive 3-day boot camp where the best ten players were declared the Jr. NBA All Stars of 2013. The NBA experience in an international city is the fourth and final stage of the Jr. NBA Philippines program every year.
This is the sixth consecutive batch of Jr. NBA All Stars to avail of the once in a lifetime NBA experience. The first batch went to San Francisco, USA in 2007 and visited the Golden State Warriors’ Training Camp. The 2008-09 batch went to New York, watched a New Jersey Nets-Charlotte Bobcats game and played against a counterpart Jr. NBA team in New Jersey. The 2010 batch experienced Beijing and watched the China Games in Beijing. The 2011 group enjoyed Hongkong and Hongkong Disneyland. The 2012 group went to Shanghai and watched the champion team Miami Heat play the Los Angeles Clippers at the Mercedes Benz Arena.
The 2013 group that was accompanied by NBA Asia staff, Jr. NBA coaches and some parents also visited the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Gorman’s Chinese Theater, the Redondo Beach Pier and the Dell Amo Mall. The group will be back in Manila on Wednesday, November 20.
After officially ending its 2013 season with the trip, the NBA revs up for Jr. NBA Philippines 2014 presented by Alaska which begins in January.
Official Press Release courtesy of NBA Asia and Larc&Asset PR.
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