JRNBA/JRWNBA Presented by Alaska does not open doors for the players alone. It also opens door for coaches hoping to better their craft at teaching the sport.
The one dozen men and women aspiring to become the coaches for the boys and girls teams are all hoping for opportunities to share their knowledge about the sport they love, basketball.
The JrNBA/JrWNBA Presented by Alaska, held April 21 to 24 at the Don Bosco Technical Institute, in Makati will select the 10 boys and the five girls for the all-star squads as well the boys and girls coaches for the two squads.
Like the other coaches, national basketball player Merenciana “Ewon” Arayi, hopes to follow in the footsteps of Aldin Ayo, the most successful JrNBA All-Star coach.
After being chosen JrNBA All-Star coach Ayo was appointed head coach of the Letran Knights. After two years at the helm Ayo and the Knights won the men’s basketball title in the National Collegiate Athletic Association. Ayo is presently the head coach of the La Salle University Green Archers who compete in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines.
The 30-year-old Arayi has been a national team member since 2007. She helped the Philippines win the gold medal in the 2010 Southeast Asia Basketball Championship. She is still a member of the national team which is hoping to win the Southeast Asia Games women’s basketball diadem.
Arayi finished her high school in Pangasinan and took up Banking and Finance at Adamson University where she played for the Lady Falcons.
She is a member of the international Christian ministry group Athletes In Action, which regularly holds outreach programs not just to train players in the sport of basketball but also to touch and improve lives through their ministry.
Arayi’s biggest disappointment is that Filipina athletes from the collegiate ranks have nowhere to play after their stints in school. This is why she formed the Pinoy Ballers League which she hopes to grow into a sustainable basketball league for women in the Philippines.
She is hoping that success at the JrNBA/JrWNBA Presented by Alaska search for the all-star coach will help also her achieve her own goals to improve the sport in the country.
