NCCBL Season 2
I was introduced to NBA cards during the mid 90s and prior to that, I had no idea what these picture cards of pro basketball players are. It was my son Emil who was persistent on getting them as his schoolmates are into it.
He eventually played football and somehow got into his school’s varsity team, which led to him losing interest on his trading cards that had accumulated. Long story short, I got interested in the hobby and had been on it ever since. At my age, I could perhaps be the oldest member of the Cebu NBA Card Collectors (CNCC), the “manoy” of the group.
Mid 2000s, hobby interest diminished when several card shops closed here in Cebu. It had a revival sometime in 2014 with a few hardcore collectors visible and by 2020, box breaks started. Later that year, pandemic notwithstanding, the group began regular meet-ups, yes, with masks.
Since this is a hoops related hobby, the group agreed to have a basketball league exclusive only to its members with Paul So as its first league commissioner. The maiden season had 75 players distributed to five teams named after popular NBA card brands (Prizm, Flawless, Court Kings, National Treasures and Spectra). Team Prizm was crowned the inaugural champion with SHAABAA vet Ed Macasling voted as MVP.
Seven teams opens Season 2 today noon at the Cebu Coliseum, with PBA hotshot and Cebu City Councilor Dondon Hontiveros gracing the opening ceremonies. A game will be played after the ceremonies, with the two playing teams to be drawn among the rest of the participating teams.
According to Michael “Moki” Gumagay, more collectors signified their intentions to play that Team Upper Deck and Team Hoops were added to the original 5 teams. The league instituted a draft this time to determine where club members play.
Season 2 league commissioner Noel “Kiki” Modequillo said that this season would be better than last season as this could be a medium for young and old basketball fans to discover the hobby. And for circa 1990s collectors, it can be a way to “rekindle their old collections and join our ever growing community”, he said.
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