BEST Center SBP/Passerelle Tournament 2015 opens

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SBP/Passerelle Twin Tournament, the country’s most prestigious interschool basketball competition for kids, kicks off its 30th season this Sunday, July 19, at the Xavier School Fr. Rafael Cortina Gym in Greenhills. The opening ceremony will be attended by Nieto twins, Michael and Matthew, who started their basketball career in Small Basketeers and are now members of Batang Gilas.

Organized by the Basketball Efficiency and Scientific Training (BEST) Center, this year’s season promises to be another exciting tournament with 600 players from 40 teams participating in the games.

The competition will run for three months with kids 9-11 years old vying for the Small Basketeers Philippines (SBP) trophy and kids 12-14 years old playing for the Passerelle title. Defending their SBP title is Xavier School, which was the NCR and national champion last year. University of Visayas, meanwhile, will play their all for their Passerelle title.

The SBP participating teams are composed of Xavier School Team A, Xavier School Team B, Ateneo de Manila Team A, Ateneo de Manila Team B, De la Salle Santiago Zobel, La Salle Greenhills Team A, La Salle Greenhills Team B, Notre Dame of Greater Manila, St. Mary;s College, Quezon City; Lourdes School, Quezon City; Marist School, San Beda College Rizal, and San Sebastian College-Recoletos.

The Passerelle participating teams, meanwhile, include Ateneo de Manila Team A, Ateneo de Manila Team B, Lourdes School Mandaluyong, Xavier School, Adamson University, La Salle Greenhills Team A, La Salle Greenhills Team B, University of Santo Tomas, Nazareth School of NU, Notre Dame of Greater Manila, St May's College, De la Salle Santiago Zobel, San Beda College Rizal, and St. Augustin International School.

Sponsored by Milo and Chris Sports, the SBP/Passerelle Twin Tournament is organized by the BEST Center since 1985 to provide aspiring young players a platform to showcase their basketball skills on a national level, as well as foster camaraderie and sportsmanship among the participating schools, the players and parents.

For more information, please call the BEST Center hotlines 411-6260 or 372-3065, or visit BEST Center Sports Inc. on Facebook.

Celebrating 35 years of producing basketball legends, the Best Center is the pioneer scientific sports clinic in the country and was cited with an Olympism Award by the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC), and installed in the Hall of Fame by the Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA).

DepEd and AusAID boost Philippine education

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The Department of Education (DepEd) and the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) signed the Memorandum of Subsidiary Arrangement (MSA) for the Basic Education Sector Transformation (BEST) Program to boost the education agenda at Neptali Gonzales High School in Mandaluyong, Friday.

“DepEd and AusAID have been partners in pushing the educational agenda for 15 years. This new partnership signifies the commitment of both parties to attain quality education for Filipino learners,” Secretary of Education Armin Luistro said adding that AusAID had always helped the education sector by implementing projects across the country—some of which covered Basic Education Assistance in Mindanao (BEAM), Technical Vocational Educational Project, School Building Projects for Basic Education, and other projects in partnership with DepEd.

The BEST Program, a Aus$150M six-year program, aims to assist the Philippines in improving learning quality and access to education in the context of the K to 12 program. The program would aid in teacher development, boost a unified management and information system, enhance education leadership and management, promote gender sensitive education, and advance curriculum, assessment and materials.

“Through BEST, there will be additional 1,000 classrooms, 40 science and computer laboratories, and two Indigenous Peoples’ Learning Centers for our learners,” said Luistro.

In addition to this, scholarships and trainings for teachers would be provided. A technology and research center focusing on Assessment, Curriculum and ICT in education would be established through this program. It would also aid in strengthening DepEd’s capacity for disaster preparedness.

The program would improve teaching and learning and strengthen systems within the Department. BEST would work at the national level and would provide intensive support to six regions initially—National Capital Region, Bicol, Northern Mindanao, Western Visayas, Central Visayas, and Eastern Visayas.

Present at the signing of MSA were Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, Australian Ambassador to the Philippines Bill Tweddell, Commission of Higher Education Chairperson Patricia Licuanan, and Mayor Benjamin Abalos, Jr.