A select team of Fil-Am Nation and Nagoya Gakuin University lead the participating teams vying for supremacy in the first Pinoyliga Global Invitational Cup which kicks off Saturday at the Enderun Colleges gym in Taguig City.
Aside from the two visiting teams, three local crews are also seeing action in the men’s division, namely University of Santo Tomas, University of the East, and Emilio Aguinaldo College.
“It’s a dream come true for us at Pinoyliga. It was first an idea, then we worked for it… now it has come to fruition having a Global Cup and we’re definitely excited in having our first season,” said Pinoyliga co-founder Benny Benitez.
“We are very happy that a team from Japan, the Nagoya Gakuin University – one of the top teams in Japan – will be coming in. Then there is the Fil-Am Nation Select as we all know is also solid going up against UST, UE and EAC. We expect very exciting games this whole week both in the men’s and women’s brackets,” he added.
Founded by coach Chris Gopez, a cousin of PBA veteran player Alex Cabagnot, the Fil-Am Nation select is known for discovering talents not just in the United States, but also in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Europe and the Middle East, providing opportunities to basketball players to play in the US or in the country.
The event, organized by Prime Edge Marketing Consultancy, could open opportunities for aspiring ballers from the US wishing to be discovered and possibly play in one of the colleges or universities here, including Ja Lin Jackson, Braylon Cheltenham and Caelan Fernando. Joining them are former Fil-Am Nation team players Alex Konov of La Salle and Brix Reyno of Mapua.
The men’s basketball team of Nagoya, one of the top squads in Japan playing in different regional and national tournaments, will be arriving Monday led by its coach Hideki Takenoshita.
The Growling Tigers are using the invitational meet as part of their early preparation for Season 88 of the UAAP after an impressive campaign the previous season where they made it to the semifinals for the first time in years - losing to eventual champion University of the Philippines.
As for the Red Warriors, they are also starting early behind new coach Chris Gavina, who replaced Jack Santiago
Gavina was former coach of Rain or Shine and Kia (now Terrafirma) in the PBA.
In the women’s category, five teams will also compete for the title, which include the UST Lady Tigers, the National University Lady Bulldogs, the University of the Philippines Lady Maroons, Nagoya Gakuin, and a select team from the Women's Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (WMPBL).
Format for both divisions in this week-long tournament will have the five teams playing in a single round robin, and the top two from each category vying for the championship in a winner-take-all finale.
Games this weekend is set at Enderun Colleges, in Taguig City, with the WMPBL All-Stars team taking on Ateneo in the women's side at 4 p.m. on Saturday, and UP at 10 a.m. on Sunday, right after the 8 a.m. match between Fil-Am Nation and EAC in the men's category.
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