In the Philippines, basketball is considered the national sport. So it’s no surprise that a little more than 10 years ago, a group of Filipino Russell residents got together and started holding
pick up games in the senior gym at Major Pratt. “Pick-up games are every Saturday from 5pm onwards, except when the tournament is ongoing,” league secretary Mark Lazarte explained.
“League tournaments usually start around 3pm onwards and everyone is welcome to join us and all they have to do is show to the court when we’re playing our Saturday games.”
In the beginning, when the pick up games began, they normally drew between 10 - 15 players. Over time, that number has multiplied consistently to the point where there are now 60 local players
hitting the courts. Last spring, the group decided to elect their very first set of officers of the group, namely Mr. Roi Cabrera (President), Mr. Abel Sapao (Vice President), Mr. Mark Lazarte (Secretary), and
Mr. Reymart Maturan (Treasurer), who will lead moving forward and make decisions as they would like the group to be known even more in town and expand. And the Russell Basketball league was born..

Get the whole score in this weeks issue of the Russell Banner.