Team members and sponsors of the Sirius Star Pilipinas pose for a group photo during a presser. | By Glendale Rosal
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Sirius Star Pilipinas will test its mettle against some of the elite university and commercial basketball teams in their first Manila tour starting next week.
Sirius Star Pilipinas, known for its American-backed roster further expanded their basketball tour and program to Manila after reaping success in Visayas and Mindanao the past years.
This time, they will face elite teams such as the San Beda Red Lions, Perpetual College Altas, and other collegiate teams in Manila. They will also face MPBL squads and are undergoing negotiations with the UST Growling Tigers to finalize their exhibition match. The team will fly to Manila on Monday, October 9.
For Sirius Star Pilipinas team captain, Anthony Winningham of Kansas City, Missouri, they are all excited to showcase their basketball skills in the Philippines’ biggest basketball stage—Manila.
“Going to Manila is the highest stage of basketball in the Philippines. I’m super excited because I always try my best to bring the best basketball players, not me just playing, but bringing the guys out here. I know that this group of guys going to Manila are well-oiled machines,” said Winningham.
“Now add a few pieces that bring it all together and with coach, we know the leadership that we have, I know we’re going to be alright.”
Sirius Star Pilipinas headed by Winningham and veteran basketball coach Albert Alocillo held a press conference on Wednesday, October 4, 2023, at the Big Three Pizza parlor.
They were joined by their fresh batch of American players who will comprise the whole team.
GOING GLOBAL
From seven players Winningham brought to the Philippines through Ball Up Sporting, they have now received over 400 applications from all over the United States. In addition, they also receive applications from Canada and recently they recruited players from Australia and New Zealand.
“We started off with seven guys, all from Kansas City, everybody was from there, and now, we have 16 different states in America representing this team. We got Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, Omaha, New Jersey. All the players that we bring here are from different states. Our next tour will bring us a guy from New Zealand and Australia, so we’re starting to go global,” added Winningham.
NOBLE DEEDS
Alocillo stressed out that besides treating Filipino basketball fans with high-flying dunks and alley-oops, some of Sirius Star Pilipinas’ main goals are helping the visited LGUs establish a stronger basketball grassroots program and promote local tourism.
At the same time, they provide a top-notch basketball experience for Filipino basketball talents and elevate further the quality of basketball in the country.
“One of the missions of Sirius Star Pilipinas is to help grassroots program of LGUs. We also provide opportunities to Filipino players to experience playing alongside American players, and to gel them with our system,” said Alocillo. /rcg
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