FBL Canada and Kapatid TV5 Teams up to deliver successful 2018 Turkey Ball

 
By Emar Sy
Toronto-Canada
October 13, 2018
 


FBL Canada held its 2^nd Annual Turkey Ball at the Toronto Pan AM Sports Centre on October 5-7, 2018 in partnership with Kapatid TV5. Dubbed as one of the biggest basketball event here in Canada a total of 73 teams trooped down to the new basketball mecca to vie for the 10 championships up for grabs.



20 different ball clubs participated including teams from Montreal and Quebec participated on this annual event to determine the Over All Grand Champion Club.





The 3-day event started games on Friday. Opening ceremonies were held Saturday with 2 Time PBA MVP James Yap as its special guest courtesy of Kapatid TV5.  Coach Mike welcomed and thanked all participants. James Yap gave his inspirational message to all kids while Ms. Lovely Danna Luna wowed the crowd as the emcee. The ceremony closed with the traditional Dance Off with Ethan David from Durham Rising Suns going home with the $50 winner cash prize. Before the opening games James Yap also had his Tips and Tricks basketball clinic to Kapatid TV5 subscribers. James Yap also treated all ball clubs with a selfie and photo ops with his fans. He also attended the fund raising dinner dance party for Team Canada NBTC 2019 at BIM Toronto.





Sunday marked the various playoff games towards the championships. CKATT draw first blood winning the 2005 division against FBA Durham. Coach Vic Montero’s North York took the 2007 Division against 24 MM of Coach Wally Maranan with LJ Belen winning the MVP honors. Not to be outdone is UNDFTD’s Coach Tone who continued dominance on 2008 and 2006 division against finalist FBA Durham and Coach Jim Cantos Toronto Future Phenom. Ex PBA player Marc Victoria added the 2004 Division championship to North York against rejuvenated Crossover of Coach Mike Hukom.



Crossover Coach JR almost staged an upset against favourite CKATT at the Collegiate division. Jayhawks proved too much for North York at 2002 Division with steady play from its regulars Jumel Puno and Paolo Rivera. DRS took advantage of not having perennial rival Bayan on its division and won the 2003 against Maharlika. CKATT sealed the Overall Club Championships with a thrilling win at 2009 and 2010 division against FBA Durham and North York respectively.



The annual Turkey Ball was made possible through the efforts of FBL Canada under the leadership of Commissioner Wallie Landicho and his directors in cooperation with Kapatid TV5. FBL Canada would also like to thank Ms. Anna Maramba of AV Communications and Crossover Sports Canada for their support.



Up next is the FBL Canada Youth League which starts on January 2019. Interested ball clubs may now register online at www.filipinobasketballleague.leaguerepublic.com or contact Wallie Landicho (416 17 5273) and Coach Mike (416 795 8985) for more details.

 FBL Canada is a not for profit organization that runs year round basketball league and weekend tournament for youth players in GTA and surrounding region. It includes FBL Canada Youth League (January to June), Fiesta Ball (July) and season ending Turkey Ball (October).Beneficiary of its program includes Team Canada NBTC that yearly represent Canada on March for the SM NBTC National High School Championships in Manila. Notable players who got recruited through this program includes James Canlas (Maharlika) and Matthew Daves (Crossover) who now plays for San Beda and Ateneo respectively.Other includes Evyn Santiago (Maharlika) for UP, Andre Cruz (Crossover) and Alvin Floridio (Maharlika) for San Beda, Rob Ocampo (Crossover) for College of St. Benilde and Ben Kwawukumey (Crossover) for UST.