Top Zamboangueño athletes have united to fully support the campaign of their hometown squad, the Zamboanga Valientes in the Asean Basketball League Invitational 2023, which started on Tuesday at the OCBC Arena in Singapore.
Magnolia’s Mark Barroca and Converge’s Mike Tolomia from the Philippine Basketball Association, together with Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist middleweight boxer Eumir Felix Marcial and bantamweight pug Jonas Sultan have thrown their support behind the Valientes, and are also encouraging fellow Filipinos to do so.
“The Zamboanga Valientes are all primed up because of the encouraging messages they received from fellow top Zamboangueño athletes like Barroca, Tolomia, Marcial, and Jonas,” team owner Junnie Navarro said.
“This is very meaningful to all Zamboangueños since this is the first time that they will be representing the country in the ABL,” Navarro added. “Before the Valientes flew to Singapore, Barroca appeared during the team’s last practice session last week.”
Marcial, the reigning Southeast Asian boxing king, expressed his all-out support to the Zamboanga Valientes, while training for his coming fight in Las Vegas, Nevada. On the other hand, Sultan will be flying to Singapore to cheer for the team.
The Zamboanga Valientes are competing as off press time with Louvre Surabaya Indonesia in their first game at 6 p.m. The game was shown live in IBT Divisoria and at the Golden Boys Gym.
Zamboanga City Mayor John Dalipe also showed support to the Zamboanga Valientes, owned by Cory and Junnie Navarro and MLV Accounting Mike Venezuela.
American imports Antonio Hester, Will Deng, Ryan Smith and heritage player Jeremy Arthur are spearheading the team. Also part of the Valientes are former Gilas standouts JR Cawaling and Kemark Cariño, and homegrown players Rudy Lingganay, Jeff Bernardo and Denver Cadiz.
The Valientes will be coached by Ateneo De Zamboanga mentor Bobedick delos Santos, who is the mentor of successful players like San Beda star Peter Alfaro and Rhayann Amsali, Forthsky Padrigao, Jens Knuttel and Tolomia.
Zamboanga City has produced talented point guards like RR Garcia, Padrigao, Barroca and Tolomia, among others, while Tokyo Olympics’ gold medalist Hidilyn Diaz, pool masters Cheska Centeno and Roberto Gomez are also from Zamboanga City.