The Pilipinas VisMin Super Cup was a men's regional basketball league in the Philippines. The league comprises teams from the Visayas and Mindanao regions, similar to the Mindanao Visayas Basketball Association (MVBA) from 2006 until 2008, with the aim of searching for local, homegrown talent from those regions.[1]
The last tournament the league held was the 2023 Fiesta Pilar Championship before going inactive.
History
Plans for a basketball league in the island groups of Visayas and Mindanao were first reported in October 2020, noting that the league will begin play once COVID-19 pandemic restrictions are lifted.[2]
The VisMin Cup was first announced in January 2021 by chief operating officer Rocky Chan with Dondon Hontiveros as its ambassador. Hontiveros, who started his basketball career with the Cebu Gems of the Metropolitan Basketball Association, stated that they want to "bring back the days where basketball in [VisMin] was awesome. When people came in droves to watch the games and homegrown players were given a fair opportunity to play for their cities and provinces."[3]
They aimed to start their first conference on April 9, 2021, with teams split into two "legs" or conferences for Visayas and Mindanao. In addition, games in each leg would take place in a neutral venue, with the initial plan being to host the Visayas leg in Cebu City and the Mindanao leg in the Zamboanga Peninsula. The Visayas leg was eventually moved to the municipality of Alcantara, Cebu due to the continued impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.[4][5][6]
The first conference began as planned on April 9 with the Visayas leg. In just its first week of play, the league became the center of controversy when on April 14, a game between the Lapu-Lapu City Heroes and Siquijor Mystics raised suspicions due to missed free throws and easy shots and was called out for its "lack of respect" for the game.[7] The league was at risk of losing title sponsor Chooks-to-Go, demanding the league to swiftly hand out sanctions.[8] The controversy was resolved the following day after the league handed out numerous sanctions, including the expulsion of the entire Siquijor Mystics team due to allegations of game-fixing.[9]
Format
The inaugural 1st Conference featured a two-leg setup in which the Visayas-based teams and Mindanao-based teams are divided. Teams can only play against other teams from the same leg during the elimination round and playoffs. The winning team from both legs then meet in what was dubbed as the "Southern Finals". The 2nd conference only featured Mindanao-based teams, causing it to only have one leg, the "Mindanao Challenge". The following Import-laden Conference in 2022, whilst it saw the return of Visayas-based teams, legs were completely abolished.
In 2023, the league transitioned to smaller tournaments for the Open Championship and Fiesta Pilar Championship, each featuring only four and five teams, respectively, all based in Mindanao.
Roster regulations
There are also roster regulations each participating team must follow. Each team's roster must have three players from the locality it is based in. In addition, there are also requirements for players based in Luzon and the VisMin area.[10]
^Iligan was previously represented by the Iligan City Archangels during the 2021 – 1st Conference and 2021 – 2nd Conference.
^Misamis Oriental was previously represented by the MisOr Brew Authoritea during the 2021 – 1st Conference, MisOr Kuyamis during the 2021 – 2nd Conference, and MisOr Nobles' Seafood and Grill during the 2023 Open Championship.
