A player from the Stallions goes for a layup during their finals match against the Sharks in the FTW Athletics Basketball Club Season 3 tournament. | Photo from FTW Athletics Basketball Club.
CEBU CITY, Philippines—Following the success of its third year, the FTW Athletics Basketball Club eyes a bigger and grander Season 4 when it kicks off on January 28, 2024.
This was revealed by its founding organizer Bertoni Salazar after their third season capped off last November 19, 2023.
The Stallions clinched the Season 3 title after trouncing the Sharks, 97-70, in their finals game held at the Visayan Glass Gym in Brgy. Guadalupe, Cebu City.
More diverse community
Marlou Abella top scored the Stallions with 29 points, four rebounds, seven assists and five steals, to earn the the Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) plum.
According to Salazar, Season 4 will be having two divisions, the 35-and-above and the 34-and-below, which will provide a more diverse basketball community within the league.
“Adding these divisions will level the playing field of our competing teams and also to attract more players to who want to join this league,” said Salazar.
Besides this huge announcement in the league, Salazar lauded the competing teams, especially the Stallions in their title-winning campaign.
“The most improved team would be none other than the Stallions. They lost in the Season 2 finals and their roster also lost some of their best players from free agency. What we thought would be a struggling season for them turned out to be their best after they drafted Marlou Abella who led them in clinching the No. 2 spot in the elimination round. Abella then steered Stallions in winning their first championship title and the finals MVP,” Salazar explained.
Balanced competition
Salazar added that the teams this season have a more balanced and more competitive rosters, which adds more excitement to their league.
“We had a more balanced competition this time around. During the off-season, a number of prominent players switched teams to elevate the competition level of the low seeded teams from season 2. The outcome of the season was very unpredictable this time which made it more interesting because there was no clear favorite to win the title,” he added.
He added that they’re always open for local basketball players to join their league and enjoy the perks of FTW Athletics Basketball Club.
/bmjo
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