MIAMI Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra is back in town. And don’t we know it. The favorite son of San Pablo, Laguna, has been making the rounds of Metro Manila schools ever since he flew in on July 31 for NBA FIT.
Spoelstra is a member of the National Basketball Association’s NBA FIT Team and is NBA FIT Ambassador to the Philippines.
He’s glad to be back, Spoelstra said and, showed it at the NBA FIT presscon held on Monday, August 1 at the New World Hotel. He gamely answered questions and spoke passionately about the gospel of NBA FIT—creating awareness about health and wellness and getting people hooked on the habit of living a healthy lifestyle and being physically active at whatever age or fitness level one is at.
He was accompanied to the Philippines by two of his Miami Heat assistant coaches, David Fizdale and Chad Kammerer who will assist Coach Spo on all his school and mall sorties to promote the NBA’s more-than-just-sports do-good program that aims to communicate, educate and motivate all Filipinos to take up an overall healthier lifestyle to combat modern-day ills such as obesity, illness, malnutrition and early aging.
What is NBA FIT anyway? It’s the NBA’s global comprehensive health and wellness program that encourages physical activity and healthy living for children and families through programs and events. This second edition of NBA FIT Philippines started July 25 and will end on August 7, 2011. The two-week program is the biggest NBA FIT to be held in Southeast Asia, which again acknowledges how important a market the Philippines is for the NBA. Last month the NBA also chose to launch a new event—the NBA 3-on-3 Philippines 2011 presented by Sprite—in the Philippines. Although the NBA 3-on-3 has been previously held in China, the Philippines is the first country in the Asean region to ever experience this faster, more challenging basketball genre.
The second consecutive edition of NBA FIT, meanwhile, consists of:
1) NBA FIT Clinics held in selected grade schools, high schools, colleges and universities, as well as SM shopping malls throughout Metro Manila. The clinics are a merry mix of physical activity and health education and are FREE for students (in the schools) and the general public. There are fitness sessions and demonstrations from fitness experts and sports personalities, seminars on health and wellness, interactive booths for visitors to check their health and fitness levels and “healthy cooking” demonstrations by Filipino chefs. Participants have the most fun though with the NBA FIT Challenge, a timed obstacle course in which visitors finish a series of fitness tests in the shortest possible time.
2) An NBA FIT Development Camp presented by Gatorade where Coach Spo and his assistant coaches will conduct a special NBA-style basketball camp for elite athletes of the Energen Philippine Under-16 National Team. The camp will be hosted by the Araneta Center and will be held at the SMART Araneta Coliseum on August 5. Coach Spo will also lead a special 45-minute session especially for basketball coaches.
3) A Celebrity NBA FIT Celebrity Challenge where sports and entertainment celebrities will be tested on their ability to take up and conquer the NBA FIT Challenge will be held on August 5 after the Development Camp. Celebs will be divided into four-member teams and will take up the challenge to finish the NBA FIT tests—dribbling through an obstacle course, doing quick sit-ups, shuffle steps, jumping rope, ball rotation, passing balls through a horizontal goal, going through floor ladders, laying up the ball—in the quickest possible time. The winning team will win prizes for their favorite charity. The competitions also include event partners and media.
4) An NBA FIT Fun Run presented by Air21which is the second annual NBA FIT fun run, co-organized by the NBA and RunRio. This year the run will be held at the Fort Bonifacio Global City on August 7 at 4:30 a.m. Some 6,000 runners are expected to participate and run distances from 3K, 5K, 10K and 21K. Interested participants can still log on to RunRio.com for registration details.
But before they can participate in NBA FIT, everyone is asked to take an NBA FIT Pledge where he or she is invited to make their own commitment to healthy living and get a special NBA gift for making the pledge: neon colored NBA FIT ballers.
“We are dead serious about our campaign to promote health and wellness among Filipinos,” said Ed Winkle, NBA Asia‘s senior director for Business Development and Marketing Partnerships, at the presscon. To back up its word, Winkle revealed that NBA FIT has partnered with the Department of Health “to promote healthy living among local Filipino youth, and to educate them on the dangers of smoking, drugs and excessive alcohol consumption”. Today, August 4, the NBA and Coach Spo along with Health Secretary Enrique Ona will lead an NBA Cares activity at F. Torres High School in Tondo.
The public is invited to have fun with NBA FIT on Saturday and Sunday, August 6 and 7 at SM-MOA from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and have a chance, not just to get fit and have fun, but also to see Coach Erik Spoelstra in person. He’s not just San Pablo’s favorite kid. He’s the Pinoys’ pride and joy who has again brought the Filipino up the world stage of international achievement. This time in the NBA.
