‘Basketball in the Philippines is like hockey in Canada’
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- Published on Friday, October 20, 2017
Photo by Eoin Devereux. Kebey (#4) of the Bizdak Junior team goes in for a lay-up, during the first game of the Neepawa Filipino Basketball League regular season. Bisdak would end up losing to Eastern Samar 63-53.
By Eoin Devereux
Neepawa Banner & Press
In many ways, the sports cultures of the Philippines and Canada are quite similar, as both nations know a little something about having a ‘sport obsession’.
For Canadians, it’s the mantra that we are a nation which ‘Eats, sleeps and breathes hockey’. But for the Filipino community, it’s true passion is basketball. That passion was on full display this past weekend at the NACI gymnasium, as the Neepawa Filipino Basketball League (NFBL) kicked off its new season.
What started as a modest six-team circuit has blossomed into an 18 team, multi-tiered winter tradition in Neepawa, with well over 200 players involved. The Junior Division features players age 35 and under, while the Senior Division is 36 and over. Both divisions have nine teams, who play a 16 game schedule from October to April, with games played every Saturday and Sunday. While the majority of those teams are local, there are outlying communities also involved. Teams from Gladstone and Virden are competing this year, while Portage la Prairie and Hamiota have also been members of the NFBL in the past. While the majority of teams consist of Filipino-based rosters, the League is open to anyone who has a love of the game.
League spokesperson Elika Canete said that while the games can get a little competitive, the main focus is simply ensuring everyone has a chance to stay active and come together to ease boredom over the long winter. Canete added everyone involved has been counting down the days for the new season to begin.
“Everyone is excited to see the season start up again. We really love the sport, just like [Canadians] do with hockey, it’s something we grow up with,” noted Canete.
One unidentified fan of the league echoed Canete’s remarks, stressing that, “Basketball in the Philippines is like hockey in Canada.”
