VisMin Super Cup opens up hoops opportunities down south

MANILA, Philippines – With the Philippines having over 7,000 islands, there is surely enough room for two professional basketball leagues.

Enter the VisMin Super Cup, the newest pro basketball league that will cater to the Visayas and Mindanao regions of the country.

“We have far too many basketball players, but not enough leagues to show what they can do,” declared VisMin Cup Chief Operations Officer Rocky Chan. “The VisMin Super Cup will give the players a chance to show what they can do.”

Each squad will feature a 15-man roster with a strict adherence to six homegrown players (three coming from the city or the province they represent) and three from the Visayas and Mindanao region. All six homegrown players will be given ample playing time per game. 

Added Chan, “The VisMin Super Cup also aims to discover new talent, generate jobs for new players, coaches, officials, and technical personnel, as well as to promote tourism.”

The VisMin Cup will be divided into two divisions — Visayas and Mindanao — with each having six squads.

Each division will play a double-round robin, with the top two teams automatically advancing to the semifinals with the No. 3 and No. 4 teams playing the No. 5 and No. 6 teams, respectively, with a twice-to-beat advantage.

The semifinals are a single-game knockout affair with the finals being played in a best-of-three series.

Chan also pointed out that the league will follow FIBA rules. 

With the ongoing pandemic, the VisMin Super Cup will be played in a bubble in Cebu with all the matches held at the Cebu Coliseum with tip-off set on April 9.