Hadley Mariano continues his mission of giving local talents the platform to shine with the launching of the 2024 Sharks Billiard Association (SBA) which is the first-ever professional league for cue artists here in the Philippines.

With the help of veteran sports journalist Chino Trinidad who will serve as the league's commissioner, the SBA will begin next month with a drafting phase where four teams choose players from a pool of promising players.

SBA aims to begin its draft next month where four teams will be disclosed including each team owner and their names.

“Ang first target natin is the draft pick, the draft pick would be around one month from now,” Mariano said on Monday, May 6.

“Ia-anounce namin sa next press conference namin ‘yong four teams, sino ‘yong team owners and ano ‘yong pangalan ng mga teams,” he added.

The tournament is also putting emphasis on giving opportunities for local talents who don't have the resources to vie in cash-rich international tournaments.

“For the first season we're starting with local players, fino-focus muna namin ‘yong mga players na hindi makalabas ng bansa, ‘yong mga hindi nabigyan ng pagkakataon na maka-compete sa mga international tournaments,” Mariano continued.

“Each player has guaranteed salaries just like in other pro leagues, pero it'll be based on their respective teams,” he added.

However, Trinidad said only those eligible players will benefit from the monthly pay.

“‘Yon nga lang sa inaugural nito, it’ll be available for only 20 players who will make it to the cut, imagine mo from 100 plus players i-titrim mo sa 20,” Trinidad stated.