FOR two weeks, the state-of-the-art INSPIRE Sports Academy was the home of the highly-successful bubble for the Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas 3×3 President’s Cup powered by TM.
The academy inside the National University-Laguna campus in Calamba praised the organizers and league commissioner Eric Altamirano for taking a chance on it and succeeded in making the tournament COVID-19 free.
“We know naman because of the pandemic, it’s so difficult to go back to the usual venues for our sporting events so Coach E reached out to us,” said INSPIRE Sports Academy head of sales JM Pilares.
“Thankfully, the whole facility met all the standards of a bubble venue. Aside from the world-class facilities we have, the hotel rooms are up to par with what players expect,” he added.
All the 185-strong delegation in the “CalamBubble” were satisfied on the way the INSPIRE Sports Academy hosted the event.
Since last year, the academy was the home of the Philippine taekwondo team training for the 30th Southeast Asian Games and it has been the TNT’s bubble training camp prior to the PBA restart.
But the second season of the Philippines’ pioneering professional 3×3 league was the biggest the INSPIRE Sports Academy it had ever hosted.
Together with league organizer Bounty Agro Ventures, Inc., the academy made it a point that health protocols were in place all throughout the tournament.
“We’re really very happy and proud of Chooks-to-Go for really being able to pull this off,” said INSPIRE Sports Academy marketing director Lee Tajonera.
“This is the one and only ‘full’ bubble and the most important thing we’ve seen is because of our strict implementation of health protocols, the ‘full’ bubble remained intact,” he added.
With that, Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas 3×3 league proved that the bubble is possible and the academy proved it could be secure the athletes.
“The goal of the facility is to serve athletes. We want to provide a holistic approach to their development,” said Pilares.
“On top of the world-class facilities, we have programs for different sports. It’s really a one-stop shop to avail of these services athletes need to maximize their full potential,” he added.
With the success of the “CalamBubble” is just the start for the INSPIRE Sports Academy, which has started to build swimming pools and tennis courts to join the basketball, volleyball and badminton courts, as well as football and futsal fields which are already in place.
Aside from a fitness center and a physical therapy room, the academy also has a 176-bed, 60-room dormitel, 20 of which are hotel-type rooms and four of which are executive rooms.
“We’re really just scratching the surface. We’re already constructing more facilities,” said Tajonera.
“If you’re an athlete, you’re not just going to train in world-class facilities, you’ll also have sport science programs to support it.”
The academy is now radar of teams and athletes – from the national to club levels and from collegiate teams to individuals just wanting to be better.
The INSPIRE Sports Academy will now host the Gilas Pilipinas men’s basketball team in bubble training for the FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers slated this month in Manama, Bahrain.
“I believe we will have more invites and inquiries coming soon because of the success of the Chooks-to-Go bubble,” Tajonera said.
Action in the Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas 3×3 President’s Cup powered by TM Grand Finals at the INSPIRE Sports Academy.
