NBTC
Bleacher Talk
January 27, 2008
NBTC
Call it good timing or providential, but the launch of the National Basketball Training Center (NBTC) took place two days after the feast of the Sto. Niño. And the common denominator here is celebrating and recognizing the value of the youth.
No less than BAP-SBP Executive Director Pato Gregorio welcomed and introduced 38 teen-agers who will compose the NBTC’s first batch of trainees under the eyes of the program’s national head Eric Altamirano and Cebu’s head trainer Ramon Fernandez.
The importance of starting our national team program from the grassroots and the youth has always been neglected in the past, but with its launch, the NBTC might just be what the country needs to produce competitive national teams in the future. The NBTC is composed of two sets of players according to their ages. The younger set is for those 14-15 years old while the other is made up of 16-17 year old boys. All of them will train together under a 60-hour program that will be spread over four months.
Since it’s a brand new concept, some people are asking how this whole thing will work out. What is the expected output of the program? If the boys train in the NBTC, what happens next? Will they make it to the national team outright? Will they have to be separated from their mother teams (schools)? Where will they play? And what happens after the four months of training?
For starters, it’s important that we all look into this with an open mind that is agile and flexible to accept new concepts such as the NBTC. From the way it’s set up, it isn’t meant to take away the boys from their mother schools or homes. The program simply identified the best players of these age groups and will help make the kids become better players. And one of the most important elements of the program is the need to make them train and play together under one system.
The biggest problem that the country encounters when we send our national teams to international competitions is that the members of the team do not have the luxury or time to developing team chemistry. These players are usually plucked from different teams based on their talent. But talent alone will not give us championships. The most crucial element will still be the teamwork and bonding that’s needed in any sport.
The NBTC is designed to address this teamwork issue. After identifying the best teen-agers of the land, the center will get them to train and play together over a prescribed period of time. They will thus hit two birds with one stone. They get to train the young diamonds in the rough, but more importantly, they also get all these kids to start bonding with each other at such a young age. The level of bonding can’t be measured overnight. You’ll see the fruits of all this bonding after a long period of having trained and played together.
It’s really tough to explain how bonding can make teams click. I guess one of the best ways to describe this is to look at how a barkada acts as a group. The barkada is one of the closest-knit social groups next to the family. But this being close-knit wasn’t developed overnight. Barkada’s usually take a “lifetime” to develop a bonding that just gets deeper and stronger as the years go by. It’s so strong that even if best friends from a barkada go their separate ways in their professional lives, they still take time out to get together and keep in touch with each other.
This barkada bonding phenomenon is something that the NBTC should develop. It will be tough at the start as all these teen-agers are just that: teen-agers. They’re young and have minds of their own. They also come from different schools or ballclubs. In fact, they’ve most likely played against each other in past tournaments like the CESAFI or the Milo Best Basketball Tournament. But how is this bonding established?
It’s actually very simple. All the NBTC has to do is to make all these kids be together as much as possible. Let them bum around together, play around together and just “waste” time with each other. Ironically, bonding isn’t automatically established on the basketball court. It takes place outside of basketball when they’re doing something else together. This is one component I was looking for in the NBTC on top of the usual training modules that they’ll be conducting.
But that’s not the only program being developed for the youth. There is talk that a similar program is also being prepared for those between 12-13 years old. Now we’re talking! I guess we’ll have to wait for the other details about this as soon as this is formally launched.
Will the NBTC click? Is this the answer to our national team woes?
Time will be the ultimate judge. But it’s a good start with a logical concept. Train them together. Mesh them together. Develop them together. And bond them as one. If all goes well, we’ll have a future national team that’s both well-trained and solid.
**
Time-out: No, NBTC doesn’t stand for Navarro Basketball Training Center! But I must admit, it sounds “cool.” >>> You can reach me at bleachertalk@yahoo.com.
January 27, 2008
NBTC
Call it good timing or providential, but the launch of the National Basketball Training Center (NBTC) took place two days after the feast of the Sto. Niño. And the common denominator here is celebrating and recognizing the value of the youth.
No less than BAP-SBP Executive Director Pato Gregorio welcomed and introduced 38 teen-agers who will compose the NBTC’s first batch of trainees under the eyes of the program’s national head Eric Altamirano and Cebu’s head trainer Ramon Fernandez.
The importance of starting our national team program from the grassroots and the youth has always been neglected in the past, but with its launch, the NBTC might just be what the country needs to produce competitive national teams in the future. The NBTC is composed of two sets of players according to their ages. The younger set is for those 14-15 years old while the other is made up of 16-17 year old boys. All of them will train together under a 60-hour program that will be spread over four months.
Since it’s a brand new concept, some people are asking how this whole thing will work out. What is the expected output of the program? If the boys train in the NBTC, what happens next? Will they make it to the national team outright? Will they have to be separated from their mother teams (schools)? Where will they play? And what happens after the four months of training?
For starters, it’s important that we all look into this with an open mind that is agile and flexible to accept new concepts such as the NBTC. From the way it’s set up, it isn’t meant to take away the boys from their mother schools or homes. The program simply identified the best players of these age groups and will help make the kids become better players. And one of the most important elements of the program is the need to make them train and play together under one system.
The biggest problem that the country encounters when we send our national teams to international competitions is that the members of the team do not have the luxury or time to developing team chemistry. These players are usually plucked from different teams based on their talent. But talent alone will not give us championships. The most crucial element will still be the teamwork and bonding that’s needed in any sport.
The NBTC is designed to address this teamwork issue. After identifying the best teen-agers of the land, the center will get them to train and play together over a prescribed period of time. They will thus hit two birds with one stone. They get to train the young diamonds in the rough, but more importantly, they also get all these kids to start bonding with each other at such a young age. The level of bonding can’t be measured overnight. You’ll see the fruits of all this bonding after a long period of having trained and played together.
It’s really tough to explain how bonding can make teams click. I guess one of the best ways to describe this is to look at how a barkada acts as a group. The barkada is one of the closest-knit social groups next to the family. But this being close-knit wasn’t developed overnight. Barkada’s usually take a “lifetime” to develop a bonding that just gets deeper and stronger as the years go by. It’s so strong that even if best friends from a barkada go their separate ways in their professional lives, they still take time out to get together and keep in touch with each other.
This barkada bonding phenomenon is something that the NBTC should develop. It will be tough at the start as all these teen-agers are just that: teen-agers. They’re young and have minds of their own. They also come from different schools or ballclubs. In fact, they’ve most likely played against each other in past tournaments like the CESAFI or the Milo Best Basketball Tournament. But how is this bonding established?
It’s actually very simple. All the NBTC has to do is to make all these kids be together as much as possible. Let them bum around together, play around together and just “waste” time with each other. Ironically, bonding isn’t automatically established on the basketball court. It takes place outside of basketball when they’re doing something else together. This is one component I was looking for in the NBTC on top of the usual training modules that they’ll be conducting.
But that’s not the only program being developed for the youth. There is talk that a similar program is also being prepared for those between 12-13 years old. Now we’re talking! I guess we’ll have to wait for the other details about this as soon as this is formally launched.
Will the NBTC click? Is this the answer to our national team woes?
Time will be the ultimate judge. But it’s a good start with a logical concept. Train them together. Mesh them together. Develop them together. And bond them as one. If all goes well, we’ll have a future national team that’s both well-trained and solid.
**
Time-out: No, NBTC doesn’t stand for Navarro Basketball Training Center! But I must admit, it sounds “cool.” >>> You can reach me at bleachertalk@yahoo.com.
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