By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Finally, 3×3 is officially embedded in Philippine basketball.
What started as a dream to bring 3×3 basketball bit by bit to the country, the Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas 3×3 is now a professional league, another avenue for aspiring Filipino hoopers aside from the PBA, MPBL, etc.
“I’d like to thank the Games and Amusement Board, headed by Chairman Baham Mitra, for allowing our sports organization, Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas 3×3, to become a professional league,” said commissioner coach Eric Altamirano.
The approval of Chooks-to-Go’s request of going professional will create another opportunity for the basketball hopefuls in the country and will be the newest ground for the country to choose their top players that will represent PH in FIBA tournaments.
Founded by the Bounty Agro Ventures Inc., and president Ronald Mascariñas, the organization became the sole supporter of 3×3 basketball since its decision of implementing a 3×3 league in the country.
“I really believe that we Filipinos have a very strong chance of excelling in this sport. We all know what happened last year. For the first time, we were able to qualify for the Olympic Qualifiers. 16 lang naman ‘yung nag-qualify and we were one of them. It only shows that Filipinos can excel in this, considering na maliliit tayo. I don’t think height really matters when it comes to 3×3,” said coach Altamirano.
Currently, the squad of CJ Perez, Moala Tautuaa, Alvin Pasaol, and Joshua Munzon will resume their training for the FIBA window qualifiers.
