The future of grassroots basketball in the country is set to get a huge shot in the arm all thanks to the newest program in the local scene.
The Philippine Youth Basketball Championship (PYBC) is the league for the future generation of Filipino stars, and it aims to provide top-notch action with focus on details by combining tradition and analytics.
The PYBC will be headed by its Commissioner, Philippine basketball icon and PBA Legend Benjie Paras, its Deputy Commissioner, WMBPL Champion Coach Paolo Layug, and Tournament Director, Momentum PH founder Carl Villanueva.
And with the leadership and guidance of the trio, the PYBC looks to transform passion for hoops into purpose with the help of digital innovation.
“I think the most important thing for data and analytics, not only for the youth but basketball players in general, is to make things simple,” said statistics guru Layug, the champion head coach of the Pilipinas Aguilas in the Women’s Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (WMPBL)’s inaugural season.
“It’s important to help the players understand that the data is just there to help them improve as players,” added Layug, who also had previous deputy duties with the Alaska Aces in the PBA, National University in the UAAP, and De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde in the NCAA.
The PYBC’s mission is to be the youth’s premier and go-to platform for their development, and to do this, it is committing to deliver a program backed by structured competition that is complemented by digital solutions.
“It’s important, especially at the younger age groups, to be able to record the statistics and be able to have that data over a long period so players can also track their progress as they grow older,” said Layug.”
With this, the PYBC will be providing squads with halftime analysis for team performance evaluation, post-game performance reports with detailed analysis, statistical review of player performance, strengths, and growth areas, and advanced analytics and performance metrics.
Another highlight of the PYBC is its focus on being the pioneer of using player ranking per age group, and the league will utilize this by adopting a system that is both used in the US and Europe.
The inaugural season of the PYBC will run from August 2025 until June 2026, and it will feature two conferences with rotating age divisions under a single round-robin format.
The first conference opens in August and ends in October, and will have 11-Under (Born 2014), 13-Under (Born 2012), and 15-Under (Born 2010) divisions.
After the single-round eliminations, participating squads will advance into the quarterfinals, winning teams will enter the knockout semifinals, and eventually the Best-of-3 Finals.
Backed by their extensive experience of running Momentum PH, an organization that focused on corporate and school-based tournaments, and the MMBC, an inter school league for 10-Under to 19-Under players across Metro Manila, the PYBC is committed to being an innovative hub for the sport’s future in the country. Interested teams may message the PYBC’s official Facebook page for registration and more information: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61576311452147