Saturday, March 24, 2007 PBA cagers to play basketball in Sta. Barbara
STA. BARBARA -- Homegrown Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) players Marlou Aquino and Christian Calaguio will be home Sunday for the Victorey Basketball Clinic.
Aquino and Calaquio, both natives of Barangay Tuliao and Poblacion Norte here, respectively, are members of Sta. Lucia Realty and San Miguel Corporation ball clubs.
Retired Police General Reynaldo Velasco, organizer of the event, said this will be the first time that prominent PBA players will be gathered in the province as one team for a basketball clinic.
Joining Aquino and Calaquio are Red Bull's Enrico Villanueva, Richie Alvarez, Paolo Bugia, Larry Fonacier and Magnum Membrere; San Miguel's Dondon Hontiveros; and Alaska's Tony dela Cruz. The team coach will be Chot Reyes.
Incidentally, Membrere hails from Umingan town.
"My golf buddy and good friend, coach Arben Santos of the Ateneo Blue Eagles, volunteered to sponsor a basketball clinic in Sta. Barbara," Velasco said.
The basketball clinic will be held at the Daniel Maramba National High School (DMNHS), Velasco's alma mater.
"The basketball clinic is just the beginning of developing a comprehensive sports development program for the youth of Sta. Barbara," said Velasco who himself is a sportsman.
He said he is not only an avid badminton player and golfer but also a cycling patron. He sponsored in October 2006 the 168-kilometer VictoRey Tour de Tercero (General Reynaldo Velasco Cycling Classic), the all-Pangasinense cycling competition drew 80 professional and amateur pedal pushers.
The former police general said the basketball clinic is part of the Kapanalig's (Kabataang Panlalawigan Laban sa Ipinagbabawal na Gamot) campaign against illegal drugs.
"In the holding of different sports events, we are not only promoting physical fitness and friendship and discipline among the youths of Sta. Barbara, we are also diverting the attention of these youths from illegal drugs and other destructive vices to worthwhile activities," Velasco said.
He cited Aquino and Calaquio as among the role models for the young people of Sta. Barbara town and of the province of Pangasinan. He said the two PBA players' self-discipline and perseverance complemented their talent that brought them to such stature in the professional basketball league. (LCMY/Sunnex)
