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"My MVP" combines real life lessons with basketball

by Bong Godinez
Wednesday, October 8, 2008 09:39 PM
Photography: Courtesy of TV5

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"My MVP" combines real life lessons with basketball

My MVP brings together ten aspiring basketball players who are all vying for a chance to join the big league. Hosting the show are (from left) former cager Jason Webb, comedian Bayani Agbayani, and champion coach Norman Black. TV5's reality sports show airs every Sunday from 6 to 7 pm.

TV5's My MVP offers more than just intense hoop action delivered in a reality sports show format.

Host Norman Black explained that the show's main objective is to provide opportunities for talented yet underprivileged basketball players who were either too poor to enroll in a university. They also aim to tap former college players forced to abandon their dreams of becoming professional ball players because of certain circumstances.

When the show issued an announcement stating that they're setting up a training camp to accommodate the number of aspirants, the production team was startled with the amount of people who showed up. Some hailed from far-away provinces, skipping their respective day's work just to make it to the tryout.

Coach Norman admitted that trimming down the candidates was a taxing process, given the numbers and skills of those who auditioned.

"There were days we were having two practices a day plus all the challenges," said Norman, who recently led the Ateneo Blue Eagles in winning the championship in this year's UAAP basketball tournament.

The program selected only ten contenders out of the hundreds who came during the training camp.

LIFE STRUGGLES. With the selection process complete, My MVP now subjects the ten finalists to painstaking training complete with drills and test all administered during weekly practices. As the show's resident camp director, it is Norman's responsibility to administer, train and motivate the aspirants to give their best every scrimmage—not an easy task considering the fact that the aspiring players are often overeager to prove their worth to the point of sacrificing the other vital elements of the game.

"Aside from the skills, I'm very particular when it comes to discipline and their willingness to be coached," shared the champion mentor.

"They already have the skill. You don't really have to be an Alvin Patrimonio to be able to play in the PBA or the PBL or the other commercial leagues. There are other factors so we train them how to play as a team, follow directions, those things."

All of the aspirants have interesting life stories to tell with poverty serving as the common denominator. Interestingly, this reality gives the program another element, making My MVP more than just simply a basketball try-out series.

While inside the training camp, the players at the same time realized that basketball is more than just simply slugging and sweating it out on the hard court to score a basket. As they progressed, they all see that playing basketball can reflect life struggles. And just like basketball, life—if played with passion, determination and skill—can be both hard and fulfilling.

Co-host Bayani Agbayani pointed out that aside from searching for the next basketball superstar, My MVP also hopes to encourage individuals to go after their dreams no matter what the odds are.

"Buhay kasi ng mahihirap ‘to na nangangarap na makapasok sa propesyonal na liga e. ‘Yong mga magagaling na basketball players natin sa Pilipinas hindi nakapag-aral sa magandang unibersidad dahil walang pera, hindi nakakabili ng magandang sapatos, hindi nakakasali sa liga na maganda. Ako ‘yon e, before, so narirelate ko at the same time kahit ganun ‘yong buhay dapat maging masaya ka pa rin," says Bayani. His other co-host for this show is former basketball player Jason Webb.

My MVP airs every Sunday from 6 to 7 pm on TV5.

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