BASKETBALL skills training has stepped up on notch higher in the Philippines, so much so that even the trainers are getting recognized and being tapped by brands for partnerships.
Among them is Nicolo Chua of Simple Grind, who was signed up by sneaker brand ANTA, which has been aggressive in growing their portfolio of sports personalities as of late.
Chua said he has been collaborating with ANTA led by general manager JP Paglinawan on their different activities and projects.
“I’m really appreciative kay Sir JP for giving me a chance and representing ANTA,” said Chua, who has been training the likes of Paul Lee, Mark Barroca, Alex Cabagnot, Kyt Jimenez, and JP Calvo.
“Hindi lang naman kung ano-anong brand ‘yan. One of the biggest in China and soon in the Philippines. Klay Thompson ‘yan, Gordan Hayward, Manny Pacquiao, very blessed ako to be part of the ANTA family.”
Chua dded: “[Simple Grind] is going around three years. I really want to thank Sir JP talaga kasi siya ‘yung isa sa mga unang brands na nagtiwala."
Why ANTA signed up Simple Grind's Nicolo Chua
Paglinawan said he has been impressed with the training and workouts that Chua has been providing his clients, some of which can be seen on the Simple Grind social media pages.
“Since ANTA, until now, is really focusing on all aspect of basketball, we have a team in the NCAA, UAAP, we have players in the collegiate and the professional. We also have coaches, and one of the coaches is coach Nicolo. All the facets of basketball, we really try to immerse,” said Paglinawan.
Chua is also thankful to his other partnerships such as Sportsology PH, which is the exclusive distributor of different brands such as McDavid and TriggerPoint.
“We are very happy to partner with Sir Nicolo since last year,” said Sportsology PH owner Pierre Lim. “We started our partnership in 2021. We made them our authorized training partner for our brands for the people who be educated on how to use the features of the products that we have.
“Our partnership is very open and flexible but we support them with some products and Sir Nicolo, with the help of the Simple Grind team, they expose the product to the market,” said Lim.
Chua said he will continue to pursue his skills training program with players, while also intending to form camps next year.
“Simple Grind is more of individual skills training. But I had my basketball camp which includes 25 players, and hopefully, next year, we will have a second part in partnership with ANTA.
"Tuluy-tuloy lang ‘yung pagtulong natin sa mga players, whether kung saan man player ‘yan, professional, collegiate, and most especially, ‘yung youth players kaya tayo magkakaroon ng basketball camp."
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