“The idea here is to allow teams to continue on playing and practicing with their teams so that they can improve together and to be able to train potential officials,” said UBA President James Lee in an email to Variety.
UBA coordinators will set the league cap at a maximum of 12 teams; this will be on a first come, first serve basis. All teams may have a minimum of 12 players and a maximum of 15 players; all players must be at least 18 years old.
All teams must have full uniforms or color coded tops with numbers for identification. Games are scheduled every Saturday with three games per day starting at 4:30 p.m. The venue for the league will be outdoor courts in which shot clocks and scoreboards will be in play.
The Variety learned that the league will court hop. This means that every Saturday will have a different venue. James Lee said he will have a complete listing of venues before the league starts.
Each team must designate two people from their team to be an official. Each player must pay a one time cover charge of $10.00.The Variety was also told that all rules are non-negotiable and all teams must abide to enter the league.
Lee explained that the cover charge will help to reimburse the main official and referee for their time and gas for driving all the way to the venue to help with this event to guide the other volunteers. Also, payment will go to the papers and inks that will be needed to print score sheets out and other necessary materials.
Although it is just a preseason league FIBA rules will still govern the games. “There is a slight modification. There will be eight minutes per quarter instead of ten minutes and the numbers on uniforms can be any number,” explained Lee.
“Well, I suggest we have a meeting on April 30, after the holy week and possibly start on May 14. That should give everyone enough time to decide if they want to participate in this or not and will discuss further on that day,” said Lee in a circular email to all interested participants.
Lee then scheduled a meeting on April 30 at the Garapan court at 5 p.m. Deadline to submit roster and entrance will be on May 7. As of press time yesterday, five teams have already confirmed their entrance into the league. They are: Hoopaholics, Rollers, Konflikt, Mobil, and Ol’Aces.
“This will be great for basketball and the community as well so I am now confirming that Team Konflikt is in. Thank you,” responded coach Norman Del Rosario to the circular email invitation.
If there will be 12 teams then there will be a total of 75 games; 66 games for the regular season (single round robin). The top eight teams advance through the single elimination rounds and then follow the Best of Three series during the championship round. The league is expected to run from May to the last week of October or early November.
