Bacolod City – Bacolod Tay Tung High School Thunderbolts will have more time to prepare following the postponement of 2020 Chooks-to-Go National Basketball Training Center (NBTC) National Finals at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City on April 20-26.
Thunderbolts head coach Ronald Despi welcomed the postponement since it will allow his players to polish further their plays in hopes of representing Western Visayas well in the National Finals.
“More than the safety of the players from COVID-19, the postponement also gives us addition time to prepare as a team since we do not want to disappoint as Western Visayas representatives,” Despi said.
“It is not everyday that we got to practice completely since the examinations is fast approaching, so we really look forward to polish our plays further during the additional time given to us,” he added.
In a statement on March 12, the NBTC announced the postponement of the tournament and its coaches’ convention due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak.
“We are committed to ensuring the health and safety of our attendees as it is our utmost priority,” said NBTC founder Eric Altamirano. “Hence, we have taken the difficult decision of postponing this year’s event to a later date.”
“We ask for your understanding as this decision has been made in consideration of the safety of the participants and the audience. Thank you for your continued support and cooperation,” added Altamirano.
The NBTC National Finals will see 32 Philippine teams from all over the world compete in the seven-day meet that will declare the national juniors basketball champion./PN
