When the the National Basketball Training Center returns next year, it will put up a series of tournaments involving young ballers of Filipino heritage abroad, culminating in the National Finals to be held in the Philippines in 2023.
“It has always been NBTC’s aim to identify, develop, and hone the best Filipino talents both here and abroad,” said program director Eric Altamirano in the initiative’s launch via Zoom recently.
The ongoing coronavirus pandemic has kept organizers from finalizing their calendar this year and because of uncertainties, they have decided to reschedule competitions in 2022.
This time, young Filipino cagers won’t have to fly to Manila to compete, as the NBTC will oversee seven qualifiers in six countries.
One tournament apiece will be held for the East and West Coasts in the US, while Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Italy-Europe and Dubai will each host one of their own.
“We’re hoping that the NBTC Global Games will open the door to hundreds of players overseas to showcase their talents and widen the pool for our national youth team,” Altamirano said.
In the past years, the NBTC prides itself with having talented players like Kai Sotto and Jalen Green show up and play.
Sotto was around two years ago, before he signed with the Adelaide 36ers in the Australian National Basketball League. And so was Green, who is now with the Houston Rockets in the NBA, after he played twice in 2018 and 19.
