SM Prime Holdings Inc. (SMPHI) has renewed its support to efforts in finding the best and most promising basketball players among the youth from across the country. The giant property developer has recently announced the extension of its partnership with the International Basketball Academy of the Philippines (IBAP) for at least another year.
With this team up, SM will continue to be a principal sponsor of the annual National Basketball Training Center (NBTC) League. Now on its 11th season, the tournament is a grassroots program that facilitates tryouts in over 70 cities nationwide. The program’s goal has always been to pursue identification, preparation, and development of outstanding players from public and private high schools through a national youth basketball league.
“SM has been proudly supporting NBTC since 2015, as we believe in what they stand for—to champion the skills of the Filipino youth through sports development by applying the values of leadership, teamwork, excellence, and discipline,” said SMPHI Chairman to the Executive Committee Hans T. Sy. “This is why we extended our support to NBTC, so that we can help more Filipino youth reach their true potential.”
NBTC’s legacy
Since the NBTC League started, it has so far produced some of the most valuable and popular basketball players in major basketball leagues today. Some of its discoveries are former Ateneo Blue Eagles player and now NLEX Road Warriors star Kiefer Ravena, former Far Eastern University Tamaraws player and now GlobalPort point guard/shooting guard Terrence Romeo, former Xavier Golden Stallions and De La Salle Green Archers asset and now Alaska Aces player Jeron Teng, and and TNT KaTropa player Troy Rosario.
“Every year that we have been organizing the tournament, we have refined it to what it is now—a premier showcase for high school basketball,” said NBTC founder Eric Altamirano. “We have seen it grow from an initial few cities to over 70 cities all over the country.”
SM Lifestyle Entertainment’s support
SM’s sponsorship of the league is coursed through one of its prime units, SM Lifestyle Entertainment Inc. (SMLEI), which operates Mall of Asia Arena (the biggest sports and entertainment events venue in the metro to date) in Pasay City.
“As part of the SM Group, Mall of Asia Arena is also in proud support of SM-NBTC League by providing a venue with world-class facilities,” said SMLEI Chief Operating Officer Herman Medina-Cue. “Mall of Asia is truly the home of the most popular sport in the Philippines—basketball—as the major leagues that players aim for are all under one ‘eye-conic’ roof.”
Aside from providing a world-class venue for the league, SMLEI is also giving marketing support to help the program reach out to more aspiring basketball players across the country. SMLEI’s marketing team is also helping SM-NBTC League in producing collaterals and gaining access to more cities nationwide.
Current season of SM-NBTC League National Finals is ongoing with daily rounds at the premier basketball game venue until Friday, March 23, 2018. The weeklong finals and annual high school all-star game taps 32 high school basketball teams, including groups from international Filipino communities in the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, and Canada.