A REAL NATIONAL BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

by Ed Picson, Sports Columnist

It has always been a puzzle that in a country so enamored with the hoops sport, there is no wide ranging national basketball championship.

Of course there are the NCAA, UAAP, NCRAA, NAASCU, CESAFI, etc., but these just underscore the factionalism and regionalism that are facts of life in our 7-thousand plus islands.

Admittedly, there have been attempts to stage such a national championship, but none have so far been successful in involving the thousands of players, coaches, referees and other officials who are aching to be noticed in the countryside.

Until the recently-launched Philippine Collegiate Champions League which involves 250-count them, 250-different varsity basketball teams from all over the country!

Sanctioned by the BAP-Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas, the PCCL is by far the most extensive basketball league in the country which aims to discover basketball talents who otherwise would linger and eventually wither in obscurity in some far-flung area due to lack of opportunity and exposure.

At the forefront of this mammoth activity is Rey Gamboa, a retired top-tier executive of Pilipinas Shell and former chairman of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).

"We want the teams and players to look beyond their mother leagues and see the Philippine Collegiate Championship (PCC) as the one, true national championship," declares Gamboa who is undaunted by the logistical and organizational nightmare of coordinating a venture of epic proportions.

What sets the tournament apart is that it does not discriminate against any school, tournament or area. Champions and placers in such leagues as the NCAA, UAAP and the other tournaments are among the seeded participants.

Even the champions of invitational leagues such as the FilOil Flying V PreSeason tournament and Fr Martin Cup and other developmental tournaments will be considered for slots in the zonal competitions.

The PCCL has divided the country into nine regions; the top four in each region (or a total of 36 teams) will advance to the zonal competitions.

The top 16 teams in the zonals will compete in the national championship billed as the Fil-Oil Flying V "Sweet 16" Final Challenge.

The 16 teams will slug it out in a knock out "losers go home" tournament until a Champion emerges, similar to the US NCAA National Tournament format.

The champions will then have a legitimate claim to being THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONS, and apart from the prestige, will also be awarded cash prizes in the form of scholarships/athletic equipment, grants and other prizes which should go a long way for the schools’ sports programs.

In the first level alone, there will be a total of 1700 games to be played in over 40 venues all over the Philippines.

Furthermore, the games will get extensive media coverage in print and broadcast, with some games to be featured in the television coverage of the league to be handled by and aired on Basketball TV (BTV).

There is also the all-important recognition by FIBA: the Philippine Collegiate Champion will compete in all FIBA-sanctioned college basketball tournaments the world over.

The first PCCL Champion will represent the country in the 2009 Universiade Games to be held in Serbia, aside from getting P500, 000 in grants.

The Universiade brings together the top school teams and athletes from around the world in a competition similar to the Olympics.

The PCCL starts in June and will declare a national champion by year end. Already, teams in the provinces are gearing up for possible encounters against high-profile urban teams while the city slickers know they can’t be complacent against unknown teams who are just as serious about basketball as they are.

We wish the PCCL good luck and long life!