JR. NBA/JR. WNBA PHILIPPINES ALL-STARS FLY TO SHENZHEN TO WATCH NBA STARS IN ACTION

The 2015 Jr. NBA/Jr. WNBA Philippines All-Stars will travel to China from Oct. 9-12 to watch the first-ever NBA Global Games in Shenzhen between the Charlotte Hornets and the Los Angeles Clippers at the Shenzhen Universiade Center.  The opportunity to watch a live NBA game is part of the commitment of Jr. NBA/Jr. WNBA presented by Alaska to provide its top participants with a fun, enriching NBA experience.

The Jr. NBA/Jr. WNBA Philippines 2015 presented by Alaska is the league’s international youth development program that promotes basketball participation, sportsmanship, teamwork, and an active lifestyle among children.  Now in its eight consecutive year, the Jr. NBA/Jr. WNBA program has reached more than 100,000 youth, parents, and coaches in the country since 2007.

Selected from a pool of 2,500 aspiring basketball champions, the Jr. NBA/Jr. WNBA Philippines All-Stars consist of 10 boys and 5 girls from Metro Manila, Southern Tagalog, Dagupan, Cagayan de Oro, Bacolod, and Davao.  The boys are represented by Robert Alomar Castro and Lloyd Raphael Oliva of La Salle Greenhills, Luis Sebastian Locsin and Edrian Custodio of De La Salle Zobel, Joshua Garing of De La Salle Lipa, Miguel Luigi Santos of Ateneo de Manila, Ernest John Felicilda and Jeffy Mailim of Corpus Christi College in Cagayan de Oro, Christian Allen Magno of St. Albert the Great of Dagupan, and Daniel Anthony Coo of St. John’s Institute of Bacolod.

From the girls’ side, they are comprised of the following individuals: Nelia Jean David and Micaela Denise Pentecostes of the Diliman Preparatory School of Quezon City; Kyla Flores of Parañaque Science High School, Luisa Krizelle San Juan of Amazing Grace School in Laguna, and Heart Pagara Donor of Assumption College of Davao.  The Jr. NBA and Jr. WNBA Coach of the Year, namely Gabriel Victor Tan of Lucena City and Sunshine Echavez of Puerto Princesa, will also join the NBA experience trip.

As part of the intercultural exchange, the Philippine All-Stars will be joined by the 56 top Jr. NBA performers, aged 10 to 14 years old, from Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam.  The group’s itinerary will include playing friendly exhibition games, meeting NBA players or legends, and exploring local landmarks in China.

“Through our partnership with the NBA, the Jr. NBA and Jr. WNBA presented by Alaska have encouraged children to participate in sports to nurture their talent and live a healthy and active lifestyle,” said Wilfred Steven Uytengsu, President and CEO of Alaska Milk Corporation.  “We are thrilled for the Jr. NBA and Jr. WNBA Philippines All-Stars headed to Shenzhen, for being exemplary role models of our aspirations to keep children in their winning form.  In 2016, we expect to reach more young aspiring basketball players by bringing the Jr. NBA program to more cities nationwide, and making this more inclusive with fun, engaging activities for everyone.”

Over the past years, Jr. NBA/Jr. WNBA presented by Alaska has helped foster a healthy lifestyle among children and families through the combination of proper nutrition and active lifestyle.  It continues to be an effective platform in activating Alaska Milk’s NUTRITION.ACTION.CHAMPION. program designed to fight against the increasing number of overweight and undernourished children in the Philippines.

Fans can visit the official website at www.jrnba.asia/philippines and follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/jrnbaphilippines for more information on the Jr. NBA/Jr. WNBA Philippines program.  For all things NBA, visit www.nba.com.

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About Alaska Milk:

Alaska Milk recognizes the need of Filipino children for proper nutrition.According to the 2011 National Nutrition Survey conducted by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI), it was revealed that 3 out of 10 children aged 5-10 years were underweight while 8 out of 100 children of the same age were overweight, making malnutrition and obesity two of the most pressing nutritional problems in the Philippines today. Alaska Milk is committed to help provide proper nutrition through its leading brands, Alaska Powdered Milk Drink and Alaska Chocolate Powdered Milk Drink. It contains 20+ essential nutrients that help children reach their full growth potential.  Aside from proper nutrition, an active lifestyle is needed in order to shape and nurture healthier children.  Because of this, Alaska Milk encourages children to “go out and play” through its NUTRITION. ACTION. CHAMPION. programs: Alaska Basketball and Football Power Camps and Cups, Alaska IronKids Triathlon, Alaska Family Run and Alaska Cycle Philippines. At the same time, Alaska Milk has a professional basketball team, the 13-time PBA champion, Alaska Aces, which continues to inspire the youth to become future champions who are guided by positive values.  Finally, Alaska Milk partners with excellent local and international organizations that share the same objectives, vision, and values namely the Philippine Basketball Association, National Basketball Association, World Triathlon Corporation, Cycle Asia, Makati and Alabang Football Schools.

For more information please visit: www.alaskamilk.com

About the NBA:

The NBA is a global sports and media business built around three professional sports leagues: the National Basketball Association, the Women’s National Basketball Association, and the NBA Development League.  The league has established a major international presence with offices in 13 markets worldwide, games and programming in 215 countries and territories in 47 languages, and NBA merchandise for sale in more than 125,000 stores in 100 countries on 6 continents.  NBA rosters at the start of the 2014-15 season featured a record 101 international players from 37 countries and territories.  NBA Digital’s assets include NBA.com and NBA Mobile, which achieved record traffic during the 2014-15 season, as well as NBA TV.  The NBA is the No. 1 professional sports league on social media, with more than 875 million likes and followers globally across all league, team, and player platforms.  Through NBA Cares, the league addresses important social issues by working with internationally recognized youth-serving organizations that support education, youth and family development, and health-related causes.

Alaska Milk bags Silver in prestigious Asia Awards for Brand Advocacy

Truly world class.

The “Nutrition. Action. Champion.” program of Alaska Milk received international recognition for excellence when it won the silver medal in Best Use of Brand Advocacy during the 2015 Loyalty & Engagement Awards in Singapore last Aug. 13 at the Shangri-La hotel, Singapore.

The “Nutrition. Action. Champion” program was cited from among cutting-edge work across the region with 22 entries from Asia Pacific, South Asia and ANZ during the third edition of Loyalty & Engagement Awards, which was its biggest ever.

Through the “Nutrition. Action. Champion” initiative, Alaska Milk rallies Filipino children
to an active lifestyle, promotes good nutrition and instills the values of discipline, determination, hard work and teamwork for them to become champions in whatever they do.

The sports activities are developed, organized and sustained by Alaska Milk and its agency partners TBWA\SMP, OPEN and Partners, and M2M Advertising Phils. Alaska Milk has one of the biggest year-long sports programs in the Philippines- with more than 60 events, six different sports (basketball, volleyball, football, triathlon, cycling and running), and more than 20,000 participants nationwide.

The Loyalty & Engagement Awards support Marketing magazine’s mission of elevating marketing standards and practices in the region with focus on customer loyalty and engagement.

Alaska JrNBA JrWNBA Regional Selection Camp

JrNBA and JrWNBA Regional Selection Camp powered by Alaska now have its qualifiers. After several trainings and challenging competition here are the finalist.

1. Michaela Pentecostes (Makati)
2. Kyla Flores (Paranaque)
3. Akemi Marteja (Paranaque)
4. Christine Jazz Unqui
5. Nelia Jean David (Manila)
6. Stephanie Villapando (Laguna)

The selection was tough and every player gave their best to make it in the selection. Here are some of my shots



At the end of the day, everybody had fun and for the non qualifiers, I'm pretty sure that they train even harder to make it to the camp next year.

Alaska Milk recognizes the need of Filipino children for proper nutrition.  According to the 2011 National Nutrition Survey conducted by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI), it was revealed that 3 out of 10 children aged 5-10 years were underweight while 8 out of 100 children of the same age were overweight, making malnutrition and obesity two of the most pressing nutritional problems in the Philippines today.  Alaska Milk is committed to help provide proper nutrition through its leading brands, Alaska Powdered Milk Drink and Alaska Chocolate Powdered Milk Drink.  It contains 20+ essential nutrients that help children reach their full growth potential.  Aside from proper nutrition, an active lifestyle is needed in order to shape and nurture healthier children.  Because of this, Alaska Milk encourages children to “go out and play” through its NUTRITION. ACTION. CHAMPION. programs: Alaska Basketball and Football Power Camps and Cups, Alaska IronKids Triathlon, Alaska Family Run and Alaska Cycle Philippines.  At the same time, Alaska Milk has a professional basketball team, the 13-time PBA champion, Alaska Aces, which continues to inspire the youth to become future champions who are guided by positive values.  Finally, Alaska Milk partners with excellent local and international organizations that share the same objectives, vision, and values namely the Philippine Basketball Association, National Basketball Association, World Triathlon Corporation, Cycle Asia, Makati and Alabang Football Schools. 

Jr. NBA/Jr. WNBA Philippines 2015 presented by Alaska Have 3 Boys, 2 Girls from Davao For National Training Camp

Four Davao players, one from CDO are Manila-bound

Davao City – Four Davaoeños and one player from Cagayan de Oro are set to pursue their basketball dreams in Manila this April after topping the Regional Selection Camp of Jr. NBA/Jr. WNBA Philippines 2015 presented by Alaska at the University of the Immaculate Conception in Davao City.
Paolo Emanuel Antonio, 14, of Stella Maris Academy in Davao City; Christopher Gonzaga, 14, of the University of the Immaculate Conception, Davao City and Jeffy Malilim, 13, of Corpus Christi School, Cagayan de Oro will vie for the honor of becoming Jr. NBA All-Stars at the National Training Camp in Manila come April.

Rozie Amatong, 11, of Modern International Learning Center, Davao City and Rhea Ville Bausin, 14, of Daniel R. Aguinaldo National High School of Davao City will compete in the Jr. WNBA division of the NBA’s global youth development program.
The five National Training Camp finalists stood out in a field of 259 participants aged 10-14 who tried out in the Mindanao leg of the regional selections. Participants were subjected to vitals tests, skills challenges and basketball drills on Day 1, at the end of which the top 40 performers were asked to return on Day 2. More intense drills and basketball team exercises met the semifinalists on Day 2 where a final scrimmage at the end of the day helped the coaches to select the most skilled basketball players who also exemplified the Jr. NBA/Jr. WNBA core values of Sportsmanship, Teamwork, a positive Attitude and Respect.
The NTC finalists from Davao were chosen by the Jr. NBA evaluation committee composed of Jr. NBA/Jr. WNBA coaches Rodney Santos, John Ramirez, Eric de la Cuesta, Christian Luanzon and Junjun Alas of Alaska, Louie Gonzalez and Ish Tiu and Melissa Jacob of Perlas Pilipinas.
“This group will compete well in Manila,” said Jr. NBA/Jr. WNBA Coach Ish Tiu of Perlas Pilipinas. “In particular, I would like to commend the boys for showing exemplary STAR values. As for the girls, they’re something else -- a package of skill, talent, passion and perseverance. I’m excited for them to showcase their God-given talents in Manila.”

Eleven-year old Rozie Amatong, the youngest participant, wowed the crowd with her heroics, including a buzzer beating shot that made her team win in the final scrimmage. "Basketball is a beautiful game. I especially love the challenge that comes with this sport," she said.
The last Regional Selection Camp for 2015 will be held at the PICC Forum in Manila on April 11 and 12. Boys and girls who wish to join the selection camps may still register at www.jrnba.asia/philippines. The program is absolutely free.
At the National Training Camp ten Jr. NBA and five Jr. WNBA All-Stars will be selected and will embark on a unique, overseas NBA experience together with fellow Jr. NBA All-Stars from Southeast Asia. The Coach of the Year presented by Alaska will also be announced at the National Training Camp that will be attended by NBA talents.
Full program terms and conditions can be found in the Jr. NBA/Jr. WNBA event website. Fans can also follow Jr. NBA/Jr. WNBA on Facebook at www.facebook.com/jrnbaphilippines. For all things NBA, fans may visit www.nba.com, and follow the NBA on Facebook (www.facebook.com/philsnba) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/nba_philippines).
 
About Alaska Milk:
Alaska Milk recognizes the need of Filipino children for proper nutrition.  According to the 2011 National Nutrition Survey conducted by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI), it was revealed that 3 out of 10 children aged 5-10 years were underweight while 8 out of 100 children of the same age were overweight, making malnutrition and obesity two of the most pressing nutritional problems in the Philippines today.  Alaska Milk is committed to help provide proper nutrition through its leading brands, Alaska Powdered Milk Drink and Alaska Chocolate Powdered Milk Drink.  It contains 20+ essential nutrients that help children reach their full growth potential.  Aside from proper nutrition, an active lifestyle is needed in order to shape and nurture healthier children.  Because of this, Alaska Milk encourages children to “go out and play” through its NUTRITION. ACTION. CHAMPION. programs: Alaska Basketball and Football Power Camps and Cups, Alaska IronKids Triathlon, Alaska Family Run and Alaska Cycle Philippines.  At the same time, Alaska Milk has a professional basketball team, the 13-time PBA champion, Alaska Aces, which continues to inspire the youth to become future champions who are guided by positive values.  Finally, Alaska Milk partners with excellent local and international organizations that share the same objectives, vision, and values namely the Philippine Basketball Association, National Basketball Association, World Triathlon Corporation, Cycle Asia, Makati and Alabang Football Schools. 

JrNBA / JrWNBA Presented by Alaska Not Just A Selection Process

A unique story that I witnessed all throughout the two days of watching the complete selection process of, I got a complete grasp of the how they pick the cream of the crop of Baguio.  From all of the 295 Participants on the first day trimmed down to the top 50 of the boys and girls aged 10-14 years old.


Sportsmanship, Teamwork, Determination, Action, and Being Healthy are just some of the traits that a team and an individual should have for being a Champion and starting to learn this on an earlier age is definitely recommended.  Having proper nutrition in the first place is essential in the sport of basketball and it is a good thing that Alaska is in full support always on fulfilling that duty of providing Alaska Milk and Choco Milk on the sports events like Jr.NBA/Jr.WNBA. Here is my story in pictures of the Baguio Selection Process.




This undersized little girl named Angelica caught my attention from the first day til the last day of selection. Fortunate that all the girls that tried out qualified to be part of the top 50 to qualify for the next level of the selection process where tests are harder and players are tougher. You can just imagine on competing with predictors that will eat you alive if you don't give your best on all the activities and playing your A game.

And that's what I saw in this cute little girl, not only did she perform her best but really tried hard to compete with the taller players.

Starting from day one, I can see this little girl's passion on playing the sport, although I wasn't really able to get a chance to formally interview her because of their busy training schedule because they were only given a few minutes of hydration break to drink on to the Alaska Milk/Choco Milk Booths and I don't want to stole that time away from her to recharge.


I think I'm also avoiding that not to spoil up something from her game and I specially don't want to end up with watery eyes after, because I just really got very inspired of the heart that she puts in her game and in the selection process.

From the picture above you can see that her dad carrying their youngest is all support for her and her elder sister which also qualified for the top 50.

Her determination, good listening skills and following what the coaches say are the winning traits that I saw in her and made my eyes stuck on what she will do next. Tried hassling to other players, bringing out the ball to her team mates from the side lines. I also commend her teammates that did not treat her like someone that will not contribute but rather the opposite, she tried all her efforts to be inluded in the team's scoreboard even if her shots can't barely reach the basketball board.

In the end, unfortunately she doesn't made it to the top selection to go back to Manila, but what she won is not the selection process but the heart of the people that saw her play, saw her determination and her big heart on playing the game of basketball. Among all the rest I can say that she got more fans than any of the qualifiers had.

As an added bonus, she got a consolation prize of an NBA Baller that only few people have in the Philippines and that baller came from New York that was given to one of the coaches organizing the event.

I saw how they went out from the gym and the pride that her parents have with her and her elder sister, now equipped with experience, and knowledge that she learned from the selection camp. It is heart warming that I saw them spending their time as a family in the camp cheering their two little girls. Alaska will definitely look forward on seeing her again next year for Baguio Selection Camp of JrNBA/JrWNBA presented by Alaska.

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Become an inspiring athlete too and join Alaska’s sports programs now! NUTRITION. ACTION. CHAMPION. Full program terms and conditions can be found in the Jr. NBA/Jr. WNBA event website. Fans can also follow Jr. NBA/Jr. WNBA on Facebook at www.facebook.com/jrnbaphilippines. For all things NBA, fans may visit www.nba.com, and follow the NBA on Facebook (www.facebook.com/philsnba) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/nba_philippines).