SAN Sebastian’s massive 82-81 win over Letran in the NCAA Season 101 goes beyond a struggling team ending the run of the league’s hottest squad.
It basically shows the fight of these Stags, from the players to the coaching staff, who never stopped competing despite some major internal struggles.
Stags coach Rob Labagala told reporters on Wednesday that they haven’t received their monthly allowance from their sponsor for the last four months, leaving both coaches and players making the most of their scraps.
READ: Jhuniel Dela Rama hits winner to lift San Sebastian past Letran
It’s no secret that the Stags’ main supporter is the Starhorse Group led by Jackson Chua – the same group who initially wanted to acquire the Terrafirma franchise in the PBA before Season 50 started.
“Speaking of heart, di lang nila pinapakita yung heart namin sa game but yung heart namin paano kami mag-commit and paano kami lumaban doon sa struggles namin. Just to give you an idea, we are four months na walang salary at allowance but we continue to fight. It’s not about fighting sa court, we're also fighting for life,” Labagala said.
“Hindi ko rin maintindihan but that’s how it stands. If you can only realize and put ourselves in our position, how our players are fighting for it going into the game with the baggage na meron kami, but we play with heart. We play with heart. More than the heart na naglalaro kami sa court, grabe yung heart sa labas ng basketball.”
The group came on board with the Stags when Labagala was named the head coach last March. While the former Ginebra guard bared that things went smoothly in the first two months, things started going badly as they only received a month’s worth since then.
This leaves the coaches no choice but to use their own funds to make sure the program runs, while making the most of what limited funding they’re receiving from the school.
“It’s a struggle for our part, for the part of our coaches and I’ll take this time also to commend my coaches for their commitment. Siyempre they’re not just [worrying about] pano kami magsu-survive and paano masu-sustain yung program but also our families sacrificed also,” he said.
“The school has been supporting us, andun naman. Siyempre limited ang support from school. Ayun, our sponsor right now, sad to say they weren’t able to deliver. I hope they deliver. Sana ma-bless siya kasi mabbless din kami but currently that’s our status.”
Bagsak, walang lakas
Jhuniel dela Rama, the hero of the Stags’ massive win over Letran, shared how their situation looks right now.
While, of course, running a collegiate program back then only meant scholarship and allowances from the schools – the complexion of the collegiate landscape has changed massively through the years.
Schools, even the biggest ones, have to rely on major sponsors to stay competitive lest be left behind by other programs.
So imagine what these Stags have to go through being left hanging by their sponsor.
“Bagsak po. Bagsak, walang lakas, wala na kaming makain minsan,” Dela Rama said.
“Yun nga hiram-hiram nalang kami ganyan, si coach Rob nagbibigay pa rin samin yan nang pastustos, pero naiintindihan namin kung di siya makapagbigay kasi may pamilya pa rin yan. Ginagawa lang namin nagluluto nalang kami.”
A source from within the team bared that Starhorse hasn’t officially cut ties yet with San Sebastian, as Chua himself promised that they’re gonna be paying up everything that’s owed from this squad.
The same source said that the school has already met with the team, from the players to the coaches to find a solution for this mess. The school is expected to make a statement soon.
With the way things have gone for San Sebastian, it suddenly makes sense as to why the group’s bid to take over Terrafirma hit a snag.
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