Adidas grassroots hoops development continues
SPORTS apparel maker adidas recently concluded the second installment in the country of its “Uprising” summer league, continuing what it said is its commitment to help in community grassroots basketball development.
After a weeklong series of rounds of play, adidas Uprising Philippines, the Three- Stripes brand’s summer grassroots program, culminated last Saturday at the Titan Love Court in Bonifacio Global City with San Beda College Taytay (San Beda A) crowned as champion.
In winning the 2017 edition of the Uprising, San Beda A got the better of the Mapua-Malayan Red Robbins, 76-64, in the finals of the Under-16 tournament that saw a bigger field of 32 teams vie for the title.
Wounding up at third place was National University, which beat La Salle Green Hills A, 72-44.
“This is the second year and for this installment we purposely made it bigger. So from 10 schools last year, now we have 32. But it’s still by invite. We targeted 16 and under so that it’s fair for everyone and for it to be more competitive. It’s still part of the whole belief of adidas of doing community grassroots basketball and honing young ballers early,” said Jen Dacasin, Philippines Brand Communications and Sports Marketing Manager of adidas, in an interview with BusinessWorld during the finals in describing the second year of Uprising Philippines.
The adidas official also highlighted that the successful staging of the second Uprising summer league, which is also happening in the United States, was another win for the brand, which is experiencing warm reception and exponential growth in the Philippines since last year.
“Our basketball line is doing well in the country. The brand is on fire. We have been celebrating wins since last year when James Harden came in. His signature shoe is really doing well. Dame 1s, Harden 1s and Crazy Explosives are flying off the shelves. And they have to watch out for more for the rest of the year. There are more exciting stuff to look forward to,” said Ms. Dacasin, who also shared that they are looking at continuing the Uprising in the country with more schools and maybe hold it outside of Manila.
Being a product of grassroots summer leagues himself, Barangay Ginebra San Miguel player Aljon Mariano is high on the adidas Uprising for the opportunity it provides.
“Events like these are great. I commend adidas for putting this up for it would go a long way in providing training and lessons that young players can use as they grow in playing basketball,” Mr. Mariano, an adidas brand ambassador, said in a separate interview.
Also competed in the justconcluded adidas tournament were San Beda Alabang, La Salle Greenhills B, AHS A, Agila, AHS C, Kings Montessori Vikings, UST Tiger Cubs, Arellano University Braves, San Beda College Taytay (San Beda B), Diliman Preparatory School (DPS), English Christian Academy ( ECA), Claret School, Lyceum Junior Pirates (LPU), Jubilee Christian Academy, Colegio San Agustin Makati, Faith Academy Vanguards, AMA, Aquinas School, Chiang Kai Shek College ( CKSC), Jose Rizal University (JRU), Notre Dame, Malabon High School, San Sebastian College, San Ildefonso Bulacan HS, Marist, Letran, Philippine Cultural, and Taytay Captains (Taytay HS).
Apart from crowning a new champion, individual awards were also given to outstanding players.
Penny Estacio of champion San Beda A was named most valuable player while also leading the First Mythical Team which also included Gian Quiambao ( Mapua), Lloyd Oliva ( Mapua), Joshua Buenaflor (San Beda) and Justine Sanchez (San Beda).
The Second Mythical Team was composed of Julian Jugo (LSGH), Ernest Felisilda (NU), Kenji Duremdes ( LSGH), Kyle Rivera (LSGH) and Kevin Quiambao (NU).