By Dugout Philippines
MANILA--The SMART-Breakdown Basketball Invitationals, a youth league focused on developing kids aged 15 and under, is growing more than ever with its biggest tournament featuring 38 participating school and club teams competing across three age brackets.
The brain child of former Ateneo de Manila standouts Yuri Escueta and Jai Reyes, Breakdown Basketball started off in 2015 as a camp for young boys. Sensing that there was a need to further grow, it eventually led to an invitational tournament featuring school-based teams within Metro Manila.
With its increased success, the tournament backed by SMART Communications, D-TOP Apparel, official basketball Spalding, M+ Vitamins, Mared Rubber, Sulit.ph, and Got Deals Mobile eventually allowed in club teams from as far as Bulacan to compete and give a unique challenge for the school teams.
Among the schools competing in the tournament's third edition running from October 2016 to January 2017 are Malabon High School, Xavier School, San Sebastian College-Recoletos Manila, Letran, Marist School, San Beda College, University of Santo Tomas, Ateneo de Manila, and La Salle Greenhills.
"Our goal from the very beginning has been about developing the talents of these young kids. When we started off, we only saw this as our end goal in mind. Now that the tournament has been growing, we are looking more than ever to develop and grow future basketball stars," said tournament organizer Jay Adevoso.
Games in the third tournament are held every Saturdays and Sundays from 8:00 a.m. onward at the Moro Lorenzo Sports Complex inside the Ateneo de Manila University campus in Quezon City.
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