FYBA youth bring home 3 basketball championships from the Philippines

Recently, a delegation of approximately 100 parents, players and siblings from the Filipino Youth Basketball Association of Washington DC (FYBA) made the 8,555-mile trip to Manila to participate in the 2nd Annual Laguna International Basketball Classic hosted by Tumakbo Philippines.

FYBA’s four Select Teams —11u, 14u, 16u, and 20u — joined about 60 local Filipino basketball teams for three days of competitive basketball from August 3-5.

But basketball wasn’t the only focus: On August 1, FYBA players and parents also participated in the P.U.S.O. (or Purposeful Unconditional Service to Others) Foundation basketball camp for local youth in Barangay Pilar in Las Piñas. The camp, organized by former FYBA player Jordan Mejica Bartlett (who now plays for the De La Salle University Green Archers), provided basketball training for about 100 children, many of them from low-income families. FYBA 20u players served as basketball trainers and were supported by the younger FYBA Select players. FYBA families donated about 100 basketball jerseys and shorts for the children. Service to others is an important part of the FYBA program.

On August 2nd, the 20u team made a two-hour trek from Alabang into Manila to scrimmage against the San Beda College Mendiola B Team. FYBA’s team of eight players — paced by Enzo Bascon’s 24 points — matched San Beda’s 25 players for three and half quarters, before losing in a close game.

On August 3rd, all four of FYBA teams played their first games against teams from the Tiger Basketball Club/Cavite in the Alonte Arena, a 6500-seat facility in the City of Binan, Laguna. FYBA teams went 4-0 in the first round. The 11u team was led by the 3-Point shooting of Robin Casapao. Thomas Batties was an unstoppable force in the paint in the 14u team’s win. The 16u team’s razor-thin win was due to strong play by Gabe Calalang, Rico Limcaoco and Travis Roberts, a 6’5” FilAm basketball phenomenon. The 20u team won in a blowout because of stifling defense and sharing the ball, punctuated by a no-look, over-the-head assist by Ethan Satterwhite to Joshua Cordoba. Travis Roberts, who also played for the 20u team, had a highlight reel that included a dunk, a jumper and another dunk in just 40 seconds!

Day Two wasn’t quite as successful as two of the teams lost games and the 16u team barely squeaked out a 1-point comeback win against Myo Malinta of 16u. But on Sunday, FYBA’s 11u, 14u and 16u teams advanced to the Championship Game, while the 20u team fell short in the semi-final against LPU/Laguna, a strong college team. The 11u and 14u won their championship games against Cavite Warriors and Valenzuela City, respectively. The 16u team won in a blowout over Tigers Basketball 16u, paced by five 3- pointers by Chris Castro, who won the 16u Finals Most Valuable Trophy.

Although FYBA travelled to the Philippines to play basketball, its larger purpose was to give its players the experience of visiting the homeland of their parents’/grandparents’ birth, and learning about Filipino culture. Many of the kids have never been to the Philippines, and the entire week provided a lifetime of memorable experiences.

You can find photos and videos of the teams and players on FYBA’s social media platforms (Facebook: @fybaonline, Instagram: FYBA_1, Twitter @FYBA1).

FYBA hopes to bring FYBA-DC teams to the play in the Laguna Tournament in 2019. In the meantime, FYBA will continue to live up to its motto of “building character and talent” through the Fall and Spring House basketball league and FYBA Select program for FilAm youth players in Washington D.C., Maryland and Virginia. For more information about FYBA, contact FYBA President Russell Casapao at FYBA2007@verizon.net. — Filipino Youth Basketball Association

© The FilAm 2018