CENTRAL Visayas Regional Athletic Association (Cviraa) basketball MVP LA Casinillo is now bracing himself for a tougher challenge when he faces the country’s top Under-17 players in the Davao City Palarong Pambansa on April 27 to May 4.
The 5-foot-11 combo guard vows to play with twice the intensity in the national sporting meet together with his teammates from Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu (SHS-AdC).
“We have to compete and not settle for just being there in the Palarong Pambansa,” said Casinillo in Cebuano. “It is a good challenge for me as a young basketball player.”
The SHS-AdC side earned the slot to the Palarong Pambansa after winning the gold medal in the Cviraa meet last February in Dumaguete City.
“What we showed in the Cviraa meet must be doubled in the Palarong Pambansa. The competition is higher there,” he said.
Leo Casinillo, the father of LA, said that it’s important not to settle for less.
“Push more. You don’t need to stop. You need to practice more and more. Always be ready to compete and accept the challenges that comes to you,” he said.
The older Casinillo is the founder and coach of the Coach Leo Basketball Academy, a three-year-old group that is focused on the development of players aged 18 and below. He also played for LA Salle in his college days.
The younger Casinillo, a first-timer in the Palarong Pambansa, said that the Region 7 team practiced even on Sundays to prepare for the national games.
He added that the team may lack height but not teamwork and heart. (RSC)