Milo BEST: A Summer Tradition
May 24, 2009
Milo BEST: A Summer Tradition
For the past 31 years, a basketball clinic that started as backyard lessons for the Jorge family has now become an annual tradition for thousands of basketball enthusiasts around the Philippines. It’s called the Milo BEST basketball clinic. Organized by the Basketball Efficiency and Scientific Training (BEST) Center which was founded by Coach Nic Jorge, the clinic has virtually transformed itself from a hobby-type activity to a modern-day summer spectacle that’s a sure-hit for young basketball upstarts.
But what makes it different from all the other clinics here in Cebu? What has made it the top clinic in the country in terms of reach and coverage? Is it something fancy? Modern? Anything new? Ironically, there’s nothing new or modern about the BEST clinics. In fact, the clinic has thrived on a basketball curriculum that’s anchored on the basics. It’s all about going back to the basics.
Dave Uy of SHSJ (left) & Mikaihl Lorenzo Piad of USC North, two of the top 13-year old players of Cebu today (born 1996), demonstrate the ballhandling drills.
Some 191 students participated in this year's Milo-sponsored BEST Center basketball clinic held May 18-23.
In Cebu, the latest Milo BEST clinic which ended yesterday attracted some 191 students from 49 different schools. They came from as far as Dumaguete, Tagbilaran, Tacloban and Mindanao. This was the summer’s second run with the first held last March 30-April 4. And just like any other BEST clinic, the students didn’t do anything else except focus on improving their individual skills on the basics of the game. No more, no less.
The classic 14 ball-handing drills that Level 1 players are asked to master aren’t new to basketball players, but people have the impression that it all started in the Milo BEST clinic. When one talks about the “spider drill,” they think it’s done only in Milo BEST clinics. But all these drills can be done anywhere else. It’s the Milo BEST culture of discipline that drives home the point that it’s crucial for players to handle the ball well if they want to become better players.
The highlight of the Milo BEST clinic is that an individual’s progress or improvement is dependent on the amount of effort, sacrifice and commitment that one puts into his own development. The coaches don’t make the players better. They’re there to act only as facilitators for the students. They’re not miracle workers who’ll turn a beginner into a Lebron James. The bottom line is if the player is just as equally dedicated as his coaches in wanting to become better, he’ll surely become better. Only the player can make himself better. Not the coach. Not Daddy or Mommy. The player.
This progress is monitored through the drill sheet, a document that is similar to the worksheets that they encounter in science lab projects in school. At the end of the program, over-all progress is recorded in a Profile Card, a.k.a. “Report Card.” Yes, just like school, the students will also present their report cards to their parents at the end of the “grading period.” And on graduation day, the students treat their parents to a field demonstration; a showcase of what they had learned over the short but intense period.
Another highlight of the clinic is that it complements (not competes with) the basketball programs of schools. While the school will focus a lot on developing the ballclub to play as a team, the BEST Center focuses on the basics of individual skills that will make one contribute to his team in a better way. In a way, a school team’s coach is relieved of the burden to drill his team on the basics since this has been taken cared of by the Milo BEST clinics. The coach’s main job is to polish these skills and use these to make the players play together as one team.
The bonus highlight is the camaraderie and fellowship that are developed among students of different schools, including those who play against each other in the Milo BEST SBP/Passerelle twin tournaments every year. In the clinic, the competitive atmosphere is thrown out as they play and have fun together. All students get to meet new friends and they get to realize that they all have the common love for the sport. Common in the scrimmages are the cheering, joking around and laughter that arises from little petty things.
At the end of the day, a Milo BEST player comes out as a more well-rounded person. Funny, but all this because of a basketball clinic that taught and asked him to improve his individual skills on the basics of the sport, meet new friends and have fun.
oOo
Time-out: The Cebu Milo BEST Basketball Clinic would like to thank CSV Laundry, Crunchicken, Sonyu Hardware and Ayer’s Lechon for their support. >>> You can reach me at bleachertalk@yahoo.com.
Comments