The Smart-National Basketball Training Center will sit down with the Philippine Sports Commission next week for the use of two basketball venues inside the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex.
Tournament director Eric Altamirano seeks the help of the government agency for next year’s staging of the NBTC National Finals.
“We’re planning to meet with (PSC) chairman (Richard) Bachmann to get his support not just for the players but also for coaches’ development. We really need that,” Altamirano said during the weekly Philippine Sportswriters Association forum yesterday at the RMSC.
The head of one of the country’s biggest basketball grassroots programs said that he is looking at using the historic basketball gyms for the staging of the tournament’s finals in March next year.
“A lot of tournaments will happen so we will be requesting the Rizal Memorial Coliseum and the Ninoy Aquino Stadium as the venues for the multiple tournaments we will have this March. He told me it will be fixed,” Altamirano bared.
Apart from the expanded 32-team format, the NBTC will also have its 16-under, 14-under, 12-under and 19-under girls’ competitions for next year with the championship happening at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Both the Rizal Memorial Coliseum and the Ninoy Aquino Stadium have been used as training facilities by visiting teams during the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup from 25 August to 10 September.
Bachmann was also involved in the World Cup hosting as he was the chairman of the Inter-Agency Task Force and was the head of operations of the tournament before his PSC appointment.
The North Luzon tournament will be held in Laoag City in Ilocos Norte from 18 to 21 January, the Mindanao competition in Sarangani from 1 to 4 February, the Visayas tournament in Cebu City from 15 to 18 February and the South Luzon leg from 29 February to 3 March.
“Apart from the local qualifying tournaments, the champions of each city will qualify for the regional tournaments. We call these mini national tournaments and they will travel to one host city. Four of each regional tournament will qualify for the National Finals which will be held at the MoA Arena,” Altamirano said
