by Moses Billacura
The Davao City Sports Council, Inc. will meet this week to start preparing for the Araw ng Dabaw Sports Festival.
Secretary-general Belen Kempis Taala, regional director of the Philippine Amateur Track and Field Association (Patafa), will send the letters inviting sports leaders to attend.
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GMA Davao manager Mariles Puentebella and ABAP-Davao president Edgar Ibuyan will also start discussing the Kapuso Amateur Boxing Tournament in another meeting this week also.
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Datu Bago awardee Tatsuo Uchida, his grandson Yusuke, sports coordinator of the Datu Uchida Development Foundation, and world champion coach Hidetoshi Suzuki will attend the DSA Forum on Jan. 28 at the Tower Inn.
We will get updates from them for the 5th Davao City Baseball Cup on Feb.5 to 6 at the UM Matina.
I heard Atsuko, the amiable wife of coach Yusuke, is also coming to Davao, for the first time. Welcome to Davao!
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Thank you very much to the NBA Asia officials for bringing the Jr.NBA Program to Davao City for the first time at the Montana gym and Holy Child High School campus.
The Jr.NBA Program partnered with Hi-Smart Multivitamins, encouraged by organizers to be part of the growth of young Davao basketball players.
According to organizers Hi-Smart Multivitamins is marketed by New Marketlink Pharmaceutical Corporation, one of the leading national pharmaceutical companies in the Philippines. New Marketlink seeks to become the preferred marketing partner of a variety of international healthcare companies in providing Filipinos with specialized, high quality and value-for-money medicines and health products.
New Marketlink Pharmaceutical Corporation, fueled and propelled by the holding company, TAO Corporation, is reportedly poised to make bold moves to further establish the new company as a respected leader in the pharmaceutical industry and become a valuable component of TAO Corporation’s mission of building communities and people.
New Marketlink supports the Jr. NBA program by providing Hi-Smart Multivitamins products which assist in the physical and mental development of kids and teenagers who want to achieve their basketball dreams and to help them become a Jr. NBA S.T.A.R. on and off the court.
According to their info sheet, organizers said further that the NBA, founded in 1946, is a professional sports league and global business that features 30 teams in the United States and Canada.
During the 2009-10 season, NBA games will reach 215 countries and territories in 41 languages. The league’s worldwide reach is also displayed in the 83 international players from 36 countries and territories on NBA rosters. NBA merchandise is sold in more than 100,000 stores in 100 countries on six continents. NBA.com averages more than 26 million page views per day, with more than 50 percent of the site’s visitors coming from outside of North America.
Through NBA Cares, the league, its teams and players have donated more than $115 million to charity, provided more than one million hours of hands-on service to communities around the world, and created more than 440 places where kids and families can live, learn, or play.
Isn’t that very nice, the NBA reaching out also to Dabawenyos.
We look forward to the Jr.NBA Regional Selection Camp on March 14 when they choose the best players to be given slots for the NBA Experience Selection in Manila.
And what is that? They will have a chance to travel abroad, all-expenses paid, to watch NBA games and other activities.
That’s very wonderful.
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I wish a happy, happy birthday to my cousin Charisse, who just turned 18 last Jan.24.





