SBP undergoes major restructuring

SBP president Al Panlilio has initiated a long-overdue restructuring of the national governing body’s organization to reflect a more focused direction towards promoting the sport in the country, supporting the growth and development of players, coaches and officials from the grassroots to the international levels and unifying the basketball community.

“We have challenges and it’s about time changes are made,” said Panlilio in explaining the sweeping initiative that was put into place early this month. “The SBP’s vision is to be recognized in the regional and global levels as a world-class national governing federation for basketball.”

Panlilio said a priority program is the 3x3 platform headed by PBA legend Ronnie Magsanoc. It falls under the division of Sports Programs and Linkages with Yeng Guiao on top of the men’s division, Pat Aquino the women’s and a still-to-be-named head for the youth or age group.

A candidate to call the shots for the youth or age group is Ateneo head coach Tab Baldwin. “Tab might head the youth or age group pillar but no final decision yet,” said Panlilio. “We are also searching for our youth coach.”

Regarding 3x3, Panlilio said it may be the key to return to Olympic basketball for the first time since 1972. “We might get to the Olympics via 3x3 first before 5x5,” he said. “Qualifying is different as there is a point system that determines rankings. Grassroots or local 3x3 tournaments will be key. If we register all, I don’t see why we can’t crack the top 20. We elevate to top 10 by joining international tournaments. We’ll see if we can develop teams separate from the PBA. As it is, the PBA is already sacrificing so much to support the Gilas program.”

Another area of attention is the unification of referees under one SBP umbrella. At the moment, there are several rival referees associations competing to work the big leagues, causing a dissipation of the competence or talent level. “We should be able to unite all the referees organizations,” said Panlilio. “We’re hoping to have an accreditation process for referees so we can scale up their competencies.” The referees are a prime concern of the Technical Commission under Atty. Rebo Saguisag. The Technical Commission and the Coaches and Sports Tournaments Commission under former national coach Jong Uichico make up the Sports Development and Standards division.

Panlilio reports to the SBP Board of Trustees while executive director Sonny Barrios and special assistant to the president Ryan Gregorio, in turn, report to the president. The directors are Lean Aure for finance, Butch Antonio for operations, Oscar Moreno, Jr. for marketing, Gregorio for media and communications and Atty. Aga Francisco as general counsel.

In Sports Development and Standards, the functions are training and accreditation, sports standards management and sports tournament development. It includes the establishment of a training academy or program for players, coaches, trainers, referees, technical officials and organizers, the standardization of qualifications, professional skills and basketball rules practices in accordance with FIBA policy, the conduct of surveys, researches and clinics for the promotion and development of the sport, the development of sportsmanship and values formation programs and the creation of sports tournaments as a platform to strengthen development.

In Sports Programs and Linkages, the mandates include the development and implementation of marketing and sponsorship strategies, maintaining strong partnerships and coordination with regional directors, the securing of hosting privileges for international competitions, the collaboration with FIBA and SEABA and all other federations regarding Philippine participation, the formation of the national teams that will represent the country in international tournaments and the coordination with the POC in cases regarding Philippine participation and membership in the Olympics, Asian, SEA Games and other international tournaments sanctioned by the IOC.

“We now have a table of organization,” said Gregorio. “Everyone’s in place and the responsibilities are defined. We are solidifying SBP and we’re excited to involve our regional directors in moving forward. We are strengthening our organization to be able to function effectively with clear accountabilities. We’ve looked at shared services, office procedures, processes, corporate social responsibility initiatives under marketing and all other aspects of our operations and we’re confident that with the new organization, we’ll achieve our objectives reflected by our vision.”