PHL Consulate in New York Engages in Sports Diplomacy
Team Philippine Consulate General in New York
08 September 2017 NEW YORK – As part of efforts to reach out to more Filipinos and Filipino-Americans in the US Northeast Region, the Philippine Consulate General in New York participated for the first time in the North American Basketball Association (NABA) Tournament.
The tournament now on its 30th edition was held in Mannheim, Pennsylvania from 1-3 September 2017 with crowds of around 4,000-5000 Filipinos and Fil-Ams either taking part in the competition or supporting their respective teams.
While the bulk of participants come from the US Northeast, specifically the states of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and New England region, other teams come from Maryland, Washington DC, Baltimore, some cities in the Midwest and West Coast, and teams from Montreal, Winnipeg, and Ontario, Canada.
Aside from fielding a team composed of personnel from the Consulate General, the Philippine Mission to the United Nations, the Philippine Center in New York, and family members, the Consulate also set up an information booth on Consular, Pag-Ibig, and tourism services for the information of the participants and spectators at the event.
The event allowed the Consulate to reach out to a larger segment of the Filipino Community and to establish new contacts in different states under its jurisdiction. Consul General Theresa Dizon-De Vega likewise met separately with the NABA Commissioners and Directors to discuss other ways to promote community-building through sports and to seek the NABA’s support for the Philippines’ hosting of the 2019 Southeast Asian Games (SEAG).
The NABA tournament remains one of the most popular sports-oriented programs in the US and boasts of being the training ground for present and future Filipino-American players at the collegiate, amateur, and professional levels in the Philippines. The tournament is regularly scouted by sports agents in the Philippines to identify possible recruits for university, professional, and national teams.
For more information, visit www.newyorkpcg.dfa.gov.ph/ www.newyorkpcg.org or https://www.facebook.com/PHLinNY/. END
Consul General Dizon-De Vega with some members of the Consulate Team
A view of the simultaneous games played at the Tournament