THE Federation of School Sports Association of the Philippines has officially endorsed the 2nd Philippine University Basketball League tournament, a qualifier to the 20th ASEAN University Games and other Asia or Asia-Pacific university championships, to be held simultaneously in the cities of San Pedro and Biñan in the Laguna province in September or October this year.
This development was disclosed by Prof. Robert Milton Calo, Chairman of the PUBL Steering Committee, during an online meeting with Leonardo Andres, Regional Representative of the Basketball Association of the Philippines (BAP) who has been designated as the PUBL Commissioner.
Also in attendance during the meet were committee members Allan Soria, Romulo Raytos, Cecille Sarmiento and Tet Enriquez.
The Committee has extended its function to other BAP officials to support the 2nd PUBL technical aspect of the tournament, they were Nestor Macatuno (BAP-NCR) and his deputy, Labrador Renosan and Antonio Quiza, and Manuel Huab from the Bicol Region.
Andres has started to form his working staff, which is led by Biñan City 1st District-based Richard Peñaranda, who is currently coordinating with city officials on the probable PUBL hosting when the pandemic is contained.
Collegiate teams from the Southern Tagalog region that are registered with the FESSAP will be given priority to take part in the competitions. Other colleges expected to join the tournament include those from the National Capital Region (NCR) that are being handled by Soria, and the government-State Colleges.
YouTube will be provided for selective games to broadcast the games.
Soria is assigned to coordinate with their IT students to support the PUBL tournament, said Prof. Calo.
Currently, the Batangas State University (BSU), through their sports coordinator Francis Aguirre, has confirmed its registration for membership with Andres and signified its interest in participating in the PUBL qualifying competition.
The 2nd PUBL tournament will have a maximum of 20 entries to be divided into two groups of 10 teams each.
Games will be staged in different venues and hosted by some of the team participants.
According to Calo, who is also the Chairman of the FESSAP Membership and Accreditation Committee, the plan will afford more students to watch and cheer their collegiate team in action on their home floor. Graham C. Lim
