By: Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Ilonggo hoopers, get ready.
The JB Amateur Basketball League Elite Division will kick off its first season this October 6, 2019 at the Powerhouse basketball gym, Gaisano Capital La Paz.
The league aims to focus on the Ilonggo players’ talents and skills, hone them and not let it go to waste.
According to league commissioner Jayphet Balbacal, the league also promotes start-up companies and businesses for the people to acknowledge that these companies are present and actively running in Iloilo City.
“This league we put up is not the same as the others, wherein they just let the teams play and that’s it. No sense of fulfillment and they feel that wala balik sa ila. Sa amon, we make sure that the teams that joined will say to themselves that joining the league is worth their time and effort. The league also aims to put proper recognition to these players that will join,” Balbacal told the Daily Guardian in an interview.
There are eight teams who will join the league: The Uniwheels Cars Display, Malditos/Liege Motor parts, ODM Sportswear, Filinvest Badboys, JKG/CTG Commercial, Asialink/E&C Trucking, Queen’s Pension House, and the OJNA/IYB Mobile Bar Crocodiles.
The league’s format is the same as the PBA and MPBL, wherein there is a team owner, manager, and a head coach.
The JB league also allows the conduct of player trades between teams, effective after their All-star game on October 27, 2019, and the end of the first season.
Aside from the trades, the teams will also have their home courts, and there will be home and away games to be played.
Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays are the playing days of the league.
Matthew Montalvo, Paul Poral, Delbert Toreno, Doliguez brothers, and John Rey Serro are some of the notable names headlining the league.
Commissioner Balbacal is joined by Patrick Huyan, Ian Sonza, and Oliver Sinco as his support team in putting up the league.
