by Moses Billacura
We welcome again to Davao City our friends from the Jr.NBA.
They are in Davao to look for the best players to be sent to Manila for the national selection. The players from Davao and from other key cities will be trained by three-time NBA three-point king BJ Armstrong and U.S. Jr. NBA coach Frank Lopez on April 16 to 18.
After that, we will know if the Davao players will be included in the national team that will undergo the NBA Experience.
The NBA Experience means that they will be sent abroad to watch NBA games, meet players and receive once in a lifetime exposure.
We are very glad that Jin Yoo and Ritchie Lai of NBA Asia and Neil Brodie of NBA China came to Davao and even met with then city administrator Wendel E. Avisado and Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte`s executive assistant, Christopher `Bong`Go to announce the good news.
The Jr.NBA project is part of the NBA Cares program to bring the NBA experience to our 12 to 14 years old players.
Coach Frank Lopez, assisted by our own Davao coach, Cadel Mosqueda, was even impressed by the performances of our Davao players.
Coach Lopez did not only teach our young players how to play better but inculcated the “Pledge to be a S.T.A.R.!”, the core values of the Jr.NBA that means “Sportsmanship, Teamwork, a positive Attitude and Respect“.
Oh, how I wish we were still in the 12 to 14 year-old bracket. We would definitely enjoy Jr.NBA.
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Davao City`s top martial artist Steve Grandeza received an invitation to compete in the KO 4-King of the Ring, United Arab Emirates`s premier sports event that features the world`s top title holders in boxing, kickboxing and muay thai.
His invitation did not surprise me because Steve dominated the Ultimate Strikers 3 in 2008 and the Ultimate Strikers 4 in 2009.
If you may recall, Grandeza knocked out Johnny Pusong in the main event. If you want a description, Pusong went down in the first round after Steve hit him with an axe kick to the head. In the second round, Grandeza was more aggressive by hitting his rival with a jumping side kick, then an elbow to the face and the finishing uppercut. Pusong could no longer stand after the blows he received.
I hope Steve will have another sterling peformance when he gets the chance to compete in the KO 4.
We wish him all the best.
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The 53rd Palarong Pambansa is on April 11 to 17 in Tarlac.
More than 6,000 athletes from elementary and secondary schools in the country will vie for top honors in archery, arnis, athletics, badminton, baseball, basketball, boxing, chess, football, artistic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics, sepak takraw, softball, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo and tennis.
The Davao region will also be sending the best athletes to the national competition, a rich source of talents for national teams.
I fear that the scorching heat of the sun will be a factor in our athlete`s performance in Tarlac.
I don`t know yet if the Tarlac organizers are ready to hold the games late in the afternoon until evening. My greatest fear is that athletes will have a hard time handling the hot weather condition these days. We pray that no one falls victim to heat stroke there next month.
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Congratulations to the Diagold Team for ruling the 73rd Araw ng Dabaw Duckpin Bowling Tournament, recently, at the Dover Lanes.
Homer Team landed second, followed by Dover Team of Bong Vergara, third, and the Adventurers of Joe Torres, fourth.
John Alvert Baluyot emerged as the highest individual scorer with 167 pinfalls while Carmelo Benedicto bagged the highest average scorer award with 137.5 pinfalls per game and Cheche Calida for winning the highest pinning award with 95 pinfalls.
