2013 COCA COLA-PBA YOUNGSTARS FIRES OFF SATURDAY
The country’s future basketball stars take centerstage today with the start of the 2013 edition of the Coca-Cola PBA Youngstars in various venues around the country.
Thirteen teams tangle in the Metro Manila leg, which will open at the Blue Eagle gym in Ateneo with PBA commissioner Chito Salud as guest of honor.
Another 120 squads are set to see action in the regional eliminations featuring players ages 13 to 16 years.
Outside of Manila, provincial legs will be simultaneously held in Pampanga, Laguna, Cavite, Batangas, Pangasinan, Laoag, Cebu, Bacolod, Iloilo, Davao, Cagayan de Oro and Zamboanga.
In all, a total of 133 teams or close to 1,600 players are participating in the second staging of the meet topped by Taytay last year behind a team featuring members of the San Beda Red Cubs.
Each province will have 10 teams competing, with the champion advancing to the Regional Finals set May 10-12.
Site for the regional finals will be in Pampanga for Northern Luzon, Batangas for Southern Tagalog, Davao for Mindanao, and either Cebu for the Visayas.
Vying for the Northern Luzon crown are the champion teams from Pampanga, Pangasinan, and Laoag, while for the Southern Luzon title it will be the top squads from Batangas, Cavite, and Laguna.
The Visayas championship will be disputed by no.1 teams from Cebu, Bacolod, and Iloilo, while battling for Mindanao supremacy are elite squads from Davao, Cagayan de Oro, and Zamboanga.
Regional winners will qualify for the May 19 to 26 Nationals Finals where they will be joined by two entries from Metro Manila.
All six National Finalists will figure in a single round-robin preliminaries, with the top two then disputing the title in a winner-take-all showdown.
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