FIVE La Salle champion teams from the past will finally have their well-deserved ring ceremony next week, including the 1998 unit which will celebrate the 25th year of its title conquest.
The special event is set on Nov. 27 at the De La Salle University campus in Taft Avenue, with the 1998 batch being joined by fellow UAAP champions from the 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2016 seasons.
La Salle ring ceremony
San Juan City Mayor Francis Zamora, team captain of the 1998-1999 back-to-back championship squad of the Green Archers, took the initiative for the special event along with fellow team captains Dominic Uy (1998), Mon Jose (2000), Renren Ritualo (2001) and frontcourt partner and 1998 and 1999 UAAP MVP and champion Don Allado.
He noted the La Salle teams of 2007 and 2013 also emerged champions and had been given their respective rings already.
"(But) we never had our championship rings. And ang tagal ng hinihintay ng mga champion players ng La Salle ito," said Zamora.
"We felt it's something that champion players deserve to have," added the father of San Juan City. "The first objective is to give recognition to champion players who worked hard and persevered. And of course, yung sacrifices naming mga players noong panahon na yun, going through all the trainings and tough games to be able to give honor to De La Salle University by winning championships.
"We are of course hoping that the ceremony would also inspire the current batch of Green Archers who are aiming to end the school's seven year title drought."
La Salle ended as the No. 2 seeded team entering the Final Four that starts on Saturday. The Archers enjoy a twice-to-beat edge against No. 3 National University Bulldogs.
"The second objective which is very important, we hope through this ring ceremony, we can reinvigorate the La Sallian community to rally behind the current team, so that they will come together and realize na ang tagal na pala nating hindi nag-champion," said Zamora, who was actually picked by the Sta. Lucia Realtors in the fourth round of the 2001 PBA Draft.
"And of course, for the players na maging aspiration sa kanila na I want to be a champion. I also want to have a championship ring and a ring ceremony."
Zamora gets ball rolling
Zamora, Allado, Uy, Ritualo, and Jose got the ball rolling by planning the holding of the ceremony. The group later coordinated with past and present La Salle team managers Terry Capistrano, Johnny Valdes and Raffy Villavicencio for the staging of the event.
According to Zamora, Capistrano agreed to sponsor all of the rings from 1998 to 2016. Valdes and Villavicencio will take care of all other expenses.
The championship rings total 82 in all, including the ones for coaches Franz Pumaren and Aldin Ayo.
"I took the initiative to talk to the three of them (managers), and they all agreed because they believed in what we are trying to achieve na magandang momentum builder ito entering the Final Four," added Zamora, who also won two championships with Welcoat in the Philippine Basketball League (PBL).
The ceremony will be held shortly after La Salle's practice at the campus gym.
"Kaya dun natin gagawin para after nung practice nila, they can join us. So yung current team will also be there," said Zamora.
The DLSU champion players from the 1989, 1990, 2007 and 2013 seasons have also been invited.
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