Cloudfone Batang PBA cagefest kicks off today

CEBU, Philippines - The 2016 CloudFone Batang PBA Cebu tournament kicks off today at the Cebu City Sports Institute, with six Under 16 teams battling it out for age-group supremacy. The tournament, which took a break in 2015 and returns with a new partner in CloudFone, was launched yesterday at a gathering of coaches and officials from CloudFone.

Competing in this summer tournament which also has a regional and national finals are the 2014 national Batang PBA champion University of the Visayas, University of San Carlos, Don Bosco Technology Center, University of Southern Philippines Foundation, Abellana National School and Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu.

 UV plays Don Bosco in the first game today at 8am, followed by the SHS-Ateneo vs USC match-up and the USPF-Abellana game. The tournament is unique as each team is required to field three players each who are 13, 14, 15 and 16 years old. Moreover, each player must see action in every game.

Cloudfone’s Head for Sports Miguel Cu said they were excited to partner with the PBA in this summer venture and hope that tomorrow’s stars will be discovered here.

"As an organization, CloudFone partners with brands that our core target market can not only relate to, admire, and trust, but moreover, brands that have heart. The PBA is an organization that puts a premium on its grassroots programs with Batang PBA, Alagang PBA, and other various league activities. Our partnership with the PBA will allow our CSR programs to have an exponentially greater and lasting effect on being able to empower the youth through sports. We believe a lot of dreams die too young because of the lack of overall support; together with the PBA, CloudFone aims to lead the change in that regard, with the hope that we may one day see these kids representing the Philippines on the biggest stages of the world,” Cu said.

Games today will be played at the Cebu City Sports Institute from 8am-12noon, while this weekend’s games will be played at the Magis Eagles Arena of SHS-Ateneo de Cebu in Canduman, 2-6pm. The rest of the games will be played daily from May 10 to 13, 8am-12noon, at the Cebu City Sports Institute.

The format of the tournament is a single round-robin classification phase, followed by a semifinal round pitting the top seed against the fourth seed and the second seed against the third seed in a sudden-death format. The winners from the semifinals face off for the championship. The Cebu champion will represent Cebu in the Visayas Regional Finals on May 21-22.  (FREEMAN)