By Claire Orejola || Photos by Ponz Peñeda and Tom Ortega
Student basketball players from Grades 7 to 12 participated in a series of training sessions on September 29 and 30 at the PSHS-EVC Gymnasium as Erudites Basketball Team Captain Mike Lin and Coach Neil Rabino assessed their potential, skill levels, and dedication to the team.
“[We’ll be conducting] a system of training sessions twice every week. The summation of all the training is like a tryout in itself, as Sir Neil and I will be the main people to assess who makes the roster or not,” Lin explained.
On the first day of training, players went through several drills, including a 2-on-1 exercise where two offensive players worked together to get past one defender and score, a ball race that required two players to mirror each other’s movements before racing for the ball, and a movement drill that involved forward, lateral, and backpedal mobility.
“The 2-on-1 helps me see how far their decision-making can go when presented with an advantage, while the ball race helped me identify which players were quick on their feet and knew how to score 1-on-1 with momentum,” Lin explained.
The second training session featured the “chaser,” a drill where two defenders recover to prevent an offensive player from scoring, as well as three-man weave drills, which tested their agility, speed, and court awareness.
“I felt good while training because I was able to play again after a week or two, and I’m glad that I could help the younger generations improve,” returning varsity player Caiden Alava from Grade 9-Rubidium shared.
The final roster is expected to be announced within two to three weeks ahead of the Bethel Cup, a regional interschool sports tournament the varsity team joins annually, although no exact date has been confirmed.
“I hope that regardless if they make the team or not, these players can learn to love the game the way we do,” Lin stated. “My hopes in the near future are that they can run this varsity and do it as well as I did, if not better,” he added.
