Story contributed by Ian Chew and pictures by Trevor.
Get ready for the new basketball team on the block!
Aptly named Cagers, the semi-professional team, which consists of male basketball players aged between 14 and 24 years of age, aims to make a big impact among sports lovers in Singapore.
Explained Matthias Koh, spokesperson of the new basketball organization, “We believe that there is still a niche in Singapore that we can tap, to provide not just excitement but entertainment value for the audience towards local basketball stars.”
To achieve this, a Cagers Asia Basketball Challenge will be held from 27-29 June in Singapore. Three other foreign professional teams, two from Malaysia and one from Indonesia, will also participate in this tournament.
With this tournament, Matthias hoped that it will bring back the heydays of the semi professional basketball Tiger Cup campaign during the 1980s.
“I remember supporting the Singapore soccer team fervently during the days of the Malaysian Cup as well as the clubs during the basketball semi-pro league competition. Many fans could identify with the teams as they featured mainly local players. It is with this concept that we believe Singaporeans will come out in force in support a local basketball team playing against foreign teams.”
In order to achieve a good result in their maiden competition, the team has been hard in training three times a week since April. And the team is confident that they will not let their fans down.
“Recently I was involved in an overseas tournament with the top professional basketball team in Malaysia and we matched up to them pretty well. With our continued hard training, we believe that our team will be a good match for the rest of the teams,” explained team captain Hong Wei Jian, also one of four national team players currently in the squad.
As to fears that the tournament would be a one-off event, Matthias outlined the long term plans of the organization.
“We hope to use this tournament as a springboard to launch a professional basketball league consisting of teams around the region. We also hope to do our part in developing the youth players in Singapore by first talent scouting and then exposing them to a high level of competition. That is why we are intentionally targeting players below the age of 24 years,” he said.
Fans to the tournament can also look forward to special guest appearances by Taiwanese celebrity basketballer Johnny Yan Xing Shu and Mediacorp artiste Felicia Chin. There will also be a 3 on 3 youth basketball challenge as well as a 1 on 1 competition held in conjunction with the tournament at Jurong East Sports Hall. Tickets are priced at $20 per person per day and they can be purchased from any SISTIC outlet.
wow,that guy can do a slam dunk,how did he do that i mean he isn’t that tall after all…btw,can slam dunk be trained?
who is that zhen jie who say himself superstar?
surely not the guy on cagers team.
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hw do i register for the 3 on 3,1 on1 tournament?
i’m the superstar!
How hope this exciting event!~~~~~~~~
I am afraid only secondary Schools, You Can Try From Your Friend Who Is Still Schooling In Secondary Or Your ex school
so u mean all schools sell discounted tickets? i m from republic poly by the way…
samantha, i am afraid there isn’t 3 day pass, but if u are still schooling i would advice u to buy the ticket through ur school, is much cheaper.
Superman, In fact we are the season6 BBAXN champion with a weaker team.
Is there a 3 day pass for this event? I would love to see all the matches…
Thx
manager good answers thanks.. hope ur team will win i support ur team man!!haas
i notice that this team can’t even win BBAXN league
i Dun Talk like This I Type Like This…
Meteorman, i Do Difficult Thing Thats Why I Am Where I Am Today Not Where You Are Now
Manager, May I Know Why You Talk Like This? How Come Your First Alphabets Are All In Caps? And May I Know How You Talk To Other Team Managers When You Mix Up Some Of The Plural And Singular Terms In Your Postings? (By The Way, It Is Honestly Very Difficult To Type Like This) O.o
boi, I Chose These 2 Coach Not Only Due To Their Excellent Record, But Also Due To Their Love For The GAme And Their Vision Towards Our Nation Standard. I Had Witniss How Much These 2 Coach HAd Sacrifice For Not Only For The GAme But Also For Their Players. Is Really Not A tough Decision To Make.
no offence i juz wan to know what they have? they are good coach but why is this 2? i mean
mr manager can i noe why u choose this 2 coach as the cage coach as wat they met ur requirment because there are so mani coach in singapore but where this 2 coacH?
samantha, The Schedule Is Not Out Yet But It Will Be Release To The Press On The 17th Of May. You Will Be Able To See The Schedule On Papers On 18th or 19th Of May