MORE budding Filipino talents overseas can now be discovered as the National Basketball Training Center (NBTC) launches the NBTC Global Games in 2022.
"It has always been NBTC's aim to identify, develop, and hone the best Filipino talents both here and abroad. For last 13 years, we've seen exponential growth of the program from three cities to more than 100 cities and still growing," said program director Eric Altamirano.
"We're hoping that the NBTC Global Games will open the door for hundreds of players overseas to showcase their talents and widen the pool for our national youth team."
Seven tournaments across six countries - US (both West and East Coast), Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, and the United Arab Emirates, will be held as they will serve as international qualifiers.
Champions of the tournaments will earn their spots in the return of the NBTC National Finals, tentatively set in March 2023, where the international teams will get a chance to joust against some of the top local high school teams in Manila and from the provinces.
"We're super excited here in the East Coast and we're expecting a lot of interest," said FilAm Marketing Group's Anne Paulin, who will be overseeing USA East.
FilAm Nation Select founder Cris Gopez, in charge of USA West, added, "It's definitely an exciting moment to bring Filipino awareness not just in the Philippines but all over the world."
Durham Crossover's Mike Cruz, tasked to organize for Canada, also shared, "We're so happy and so excited to see and hold the Global Games. We expect participation from each province and everyone's excited because this will be a good opportunity for everyone."
The NBTC has indeed provided platform for international talents, serving as a bridge to opportunities here in the country.
Some of the players who have enjoyed this are Eli Ramos and Matthew Daves, who are now in Ateneo, and James Canlas, who is with San Beda.
It has also linked top young talents to their Filipino lineage like what it did for Jalen Green, who recently was picked second overall in the 2021 NBA Draft by the Houston Rockets.
More than anything, this can only bode well for the country's talent identification as the NBTC hopes to ramp up the discoveries of future national team players.
"Imagine before piling countries lang ang nakikita at nai-identify. But now with the opening of the Global Games, hundreds of potential talented players can be identified and can be put in the radar of the SBP. Mas lumawak ang network ngayon in terms of talent identification," said Altamirano.
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