Eight plucked from Jr. NBA's South Luzon Regional Selection Camp

A sample of what took place at the Lucena Regional Selection Camp

The Jr. NBA Philippines 2019 Program presented by Alaska this past weekend found its first set of participants to the National Training Camp, as it discovered eight outstanding ballers from its first Regional Selection Camp this year.

Taking place at the Manuel Enverga University Foundation in the city of Lucena, four boys and four girls out of the nearly a thousand youngsters were selected by the coaches who ran the March 9-10 camp. It was the second time Lucena hosted a RSC in the history of the program. They showed off their proficiency in fundamental skills as well as reflected the core values that serve as its ethos.

A couple of boys from Lucena's International School for Better Beginnings (13-year-old Frince Oliver Bueza and 14-year-old Ivan Rhoss Rosales) and La Salle-Lipa (13-year-old Karl Yuan Llanes and 14-year-old Lionel Matthew Rubico) got the nod.

For the girls, 14-year-old Nicole Rosaldo of Lucena's Maryhill College joined 13-year-olds Krizza Mae Belen of Mauban's Dr. Mariah D. Pastrana National High School, Tiffany Jolie Lacsamana of Palawan State University Laboratory Elementary School, and Karylle Sierba of Mauban's Manuel S. Enverga Memorial School of Arts and Trades to complete the quartet selected.

The Jr. NBA Philippines Regional Selection Camp finalists who will represent South Luzon at the National Training Camp in May are (L-R): Karl Yuan Llanes, Frince Oliver Bueza, Nicole Rosaldo, Tiffany Jolie Lacsamana, Krizia Mae Bellen, Ivan Rhoss Rosales, and Lionel Matthew Rubico. (Not in photo: Karylle Sierba). Also in photo are Jr. NBA and Alaska coaches (L-R): Andrea Stevens, Kalvin Sangalang, Ewon Arayi, Louie Gonzales, Eric dela Cuesta, Tony dela Cruz, Carlos Barroca, and Willie Miller.

Four more Regional Selection Camps and the Alaska Power Camp will be held to determine the rest of the forty boys and forty girls that will comprise the National Training Camp field, which is scheduled to take place on May 17-19 at the Don Bosco Technical Institute in Makati.  The RSCs will take place in Baguio on March 23-24, Dumaguete on March 30-31, Butuan on April 13-14, and Metro Manila on April 27-28.

Outstanding participants in the NTC will comprise this year's edition of the Jr. NBA / Jr. WNBA All-Stars, a selection that will then be fine-tuned in the first Jr. NBA Global Championship Asia-Pacific Qualifiers this coming June against their counterparts in Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. It is from that Qualifiers that will determine the Asia-Pacific team that will take part in the second edition of the Jr. NBA World Championships, which takes place on August 6-11 at the ESPN Wild World of Sports Complex inside Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. The Asia-Pacific selection will face off against their counterparts from the United States, Canada, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, China, Mexico, Africa, and India.

Interested participants can check out www.jrnba.asia/philippines for more details on the official global youth basketball participation program of the NBA.

Also supporting the Jr. NBA Philippines 2019 presented by Alaska are its official partners AXA, Gatorade, Globe, Panasonic, Rexona, and Vivo, with its official broadcasters, ABS-CBN S+A, Basketball TV, and NBA Premium.