FILIPINO players in the Japan B.League are no different from the millions of countrymen working abroad as OFWs or Overseas Filipino Workers. They delight when they meet and almost always treat each other like long-lost families and friends.
Shinshu Brave Warriors guard RJ Abarrientos actually don't meet them often face-to-face. But he and other Filipino players know they are around when they hear shrieks of delight and shouts of encouragement in a stadium filled with Japanese fans.
“Sila ‘yung fans namin, sila ‘yung nanonood sa games at nagbo-boost ng confidence namin. Kaya everytime, nakakataba ng puso na makita sila,” he said.
“Minsan may game kami against Thirdy [Ravena], tahimik lang sa venue, nagu-usap kami nila Thirdy and Matthew Aquino tapos may biglang sumigaw sa malayo, from the crowd, na tagalog, nagulat kami,” he said.
The 24-year-old former KBL Rookie of the Year shared that they always appreciate Pinoy fans approaching them as it’s not everyday that they get to speak with fans using their own language.
For them, these OFWs, homesick as they are and missing friends, probably find them as the connection for those they left behind, and, for some brief moments, are bound by the common cause of earning a living away from home.
“Nakakataba din ng puso na kami, as athletes naman, nire-represent namin 'yung [OFWs]… sana generations pa, magtuloy-tuloy ‘to,” he said.
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