GREEN AND GO FOR “LIGA”
Tuesday, 15 April 2008
THE stage is set for Liga Pilipinas, a newly-formed regional basketball tournament that fires off with a weekend bash on May 23 to 25 in three key cities of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.
The league, which aims to develop talents in the different regions, will be composed of 16 teams representing North and South. There will be two conferences of four months each per season.
Noli Eala, the former PBA commissioner, is the man behind Liga Pilipinas, which allows each team 14 players (12 to play), including eight home-grown talents, two ex-pros and a Fil-foreigner.
“There’s still a lot of talent in the regions,” Eala said during Tuesday’s PSA Forum at Shakey’s UN Ave., laying down the blueprint of the league, which he conceptualized during his PBA days.
From the North are Ilocos Sur, Baguio, Pampanga, Taguig, Cavite, Batangas, Laguna and Rizal; and from the South Cebu, Mandaue, Bacolod, Iloilo from Visayas, Misamis Oriental, Zamboanga, Davao and Ozamis from Mindanao.
Eala said a few other teams are knocking on the door, but the expansion should come in a couple of years. Games will be played in 16 different venues throughout the season.
The former PBA commissioner said the league will rely mainly on community support, and will involve the different LGUs (local government units) and corporate sponsors.
The idea may have been pattered after the defunct Metropolitan Basketball Association, a regional league, which lasted only four years after being formed in 1998.
“I think the MBA became too eager to compete with the PBA. That will never happen with Lipa Pilipinas because how can you even compare yourself with a 33-year-old league,” said Eala in the forum sponsored by Shakey’s, Philippine Amusements and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR), Accel, Brickroad gym and Aspen spa.
“We will not fall into that. We are all students of history here,” added Eala who is counting on a tight crew made up of Rico Meneses (marketing/sales TV affairs), Butch Antonio (basketball operations), Joey Bautista (business development) and Perry Martinez (technical department and player relations).
Liga Pilipinas is owned by Pinoy Basketbol, Inc., the newest member of the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas.
PBI is a merger of stakeholders National Basketball Conference, Mindanao-Visayas Basketball Association and Third Force, Inc.
The PBI board is made up of Tac Padilla (chairman), Gov. Oscar Moreno (vice chairman), Jose Soberano (treasurer), Michelle Lhuillier, Mayor Bambol Tolentino, Tito Palma, Andrew Teh, Jean Teh, Eala, and three representatives from team owners in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.
source:
http://www.sportsnews.ph