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Photo by Janet Steele
Christian Verdugo knows better than anyone the interplay between sports and culture.
Verdugo, who grew up in Long Beach and is a Cabrillo High School alum, was raised by parents from Mexico. He began playing basketball in 2nd grade and was a star player for the Cabrillo basketball team, being chosen All-League in 2009 and 2010.
But for Verdugo, basketball was about more than just winning accolades – it was also a way to honor his cultural roots.
“I was the only Mexican kid on the team, so I took great pride in being a Chicano kid,” said Verdugo. “Growing up, there were very few Chicano and Latino kids playing basketball, so I’ve always cared deeply about elevating our Chicano community in Long Beach.”
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Now an assistant high school basketball coach at Cabrillo, Verdugo was ecstatic when given the opportunity to honor and grow his culture by working with ADEMEBA, the Mexican National Basketball Team, to organize a recruitment event for Chicano athletes in Long Beach and its surrounding areas.
The tournament is called Copa Oaxaca and will be hosted at Cabrillo High School from August 24-25. Although this tournament has occurred for over 20 years, this will be the first year Ademeba scouts and athletes from the Mexican National Team will be on-site at Cabrillo, scouting talent to recruit for the Ademeba USA program.
Ademeba is targeting athletes between 10-18 years of age to participate in this AAU-style tournament, with the winning teams receiving a trophy. Teams from any state and city can form and register for the tournament, with Ademeba fielding interest from athletes in Southern California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. Although the event’s primary purpose is to recruit Chicano players, athletes of all races are welcome to participate.
“We’re using this tournament to see the incredible talent we have in Long Beach to invite them to join our Ademeba USA program,” said Verdugo. “We hope to find kids that can represent Mexico at the international level, especially with the Olympics coming to Los Angeles in 2028. I definitely think we have the talent here in Southern California to find those future competitors.”
The Chicano teams that impress most during the Copa Oaxaca will have opportunities to play in Mexico, including tournaments in Mexico City later this year for athletes 10-13 years old, as well as one “huge” tournament in December that will include teams from France, Switzerland, Argentina, and Colombia, as well as teams from Africa and Asia.
Verdugo strongly advocated having this tournament at Cabrillo, making the case to Ademeba that the incredible facilities and talent within the city would be a gold mine for recruiters.
“When they told me that they wanted to host this tournament and were looking for a gym, I told them ‘I have the perfect gym for this’” said Verdugo. “I told them about our great facilities, beautiful gym, and our large amount of basketball courts, that’s what intrigued them.”
This tournament is just the beginning of Ademeba’s recruitment efforts, as the program intends to recruit Chicano athletes beyond Long Beach in cities such as Compton, Cerritos, Wilmington, Palos Verdes, and San Pedro. Verdugo also envisions the program eventually growing country-wide.
We’re just starting here in California.” said Verdugo. “We’ve planned on moving to Arizona. You know, we’re getting into New Mexico and Texas, eventually it’s going to get all over the United States and it’s going to be a whole program here. There’s going to be a lot of great opportunities for the young Chicano basketball players all over the country, this is just the starting point.”
Athletes interested in participating in the tournament can register via this website. Registration is recommended by August 17th.
Also, anyone interested in getting involved with Ademeba to help organize this tournament and future events can contact Christian Verdugo at christianverdugo10@gmail.com, or on Instagram at @lb_coachv.
“Our goal is to find the next generation of kids to represent Mexico at the National & World level,” said Verdugo.
