On opening day of UAAP Season 55, the Fighting Maroons came very close to forfeiting their first game.
What do you do when your team is just hours away from playing on opening day of a big tournament, and your playing uniforms are nowhere in sight?
This was the dilemma facing the UP Fighting Maroons 32 years ago, just before the opening ceremonies of the UAAP’s 55th season at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum (known as just the Araneta Coliseum back then).
With all eight teams waiting in the bowels of the Big Dome for the program to begin, the Fighting Maroons still didn’t have their new uniforms following a breakdown in communication with their supplier.
With the parade of teams about to start, the Maroons were forced to wear simple plain white T-shirts when they trotted out onto the Coliseum floor.
One member of that team was Bo Perasol, who vividly remembers what happened.
“I think that was during my last year or my second to the last year,” recalled Perasol who went on to coach UP some 20-odd years later and who is now the director of the university’s Office for Athletics and Sports Development. “I was with coach Pat Aquino, coach Ryan Gregorio, and a lot more.
“People thought that when we went into the parade of the opening (and) our attire was really a simple one, just a T-shirt. But they didn’t know that we really didn’t have the uniforms on that opening day. Hinahabol na lang yun.
“So, that was really sad. But, you know, the feeling of those players, alam mo, taga UP, hindi naman feeling victim yan lagi. So, eto na kami, but we will still fight.”
Renowned PR practitioner Tessa Jazmines, who was the team manager, also recalls that unfortunate incident.
“Yeah, it was opening day. Tapos, syempre, hindi naman katulad ngayon na sobrang detalyado at saka organized. So, sabi, ‘Nasaan na yung uniform?’ ‘Dadating na, dadating na.’
“Wala namang mga very complicated preparations. Pagkatapos, biglang wala pang uniforms.
While the team was able to get through the opening ceremonies wearing just T-shirts, there was no escaping what was up next. The Fighting Maroons were scheduled to play first, and this time they couldn’t just show up wearing blank apparel.
“Diyos ko, grabe lang,” Jazmines recalled. “First game ang UP. First game ang UP, wala pa ring uniforms.”
Someone eventually arranged for a set of generic uniforms with simply “UP” on the front and no names on the back to be delivered, and just in time.
Today, such a development would be unimaginable, but back then, UP came dangerously close to an embarrassing forfeiture loss right on opening day.
“May dumating, eventually, pero it was like a photo finish,” Perasol said. “But I still have that photo wherein we had white T-shirts. Walang mga pangalan yun.”
For Jazmines, who at the time was doing extensive PR work for the Formula Shell Zoom Masters in the PBA, what happened was a complete shock to her.
“Basta talagang nayanig na yung pagkatao ko nung wala pang uniform, eh lalaro na,” she said. Kasi, at that time, sobrang active ko nun sa PBA, with Shell in particular. So, alam ko yung organization ng mga teams. So, nakaka-shock talaga na gano’n. Hindi pa organized talaga.”
Never again
When Perasol returned to UP as head coach in 2015, he vowed never to allow a similar incident to happen.
“I realized nung head coach ako, na it shouldn’t happen. Because it takes away the focus of the players, but at the same time, it takes away some pride also, na blue na blue yung Ateneo, green na green yung La Salle, ang UP naka T-shirt na puti. So, again, moving forward, we had to make sure na meron tayong provider of apparels.”
Perasol found that provider in STATS Technical Apparel, which has been tasked to design the uniforms of the Fighting Maroons in UAAP Season 87.
“Hindi lang yung uniform na maganda kung di pati na yung mga jacket, shooting shirts,” Perasol said during a ceremony held Friday morning in UP to formalize the partnership. “And we were able to do that through the partnership with STATS Apparel, and through, of course, (owner) JJ Atencio. And right now, hindi lang yun ang ibinibigay nila kung di pati na yung mga training camps na sinasagot nila.
“So, all the things that our team has to do is just to find a way how to win. Hindi na sila nag-isip ng uniform, training camp, all is being given, all that you have to do is win for the school.”
STATS chief executive officer Edrin Panganiban, who is in charge of the design of the uniforms, said this is a culmination of a years-long project for the team.
“The past years, I’ve been developing a silhouette for longevity and durability. So, for example, if they hit the court, it won’t tear.
“And then the moisture wicks more this time on their fabric at the back. So meron kaming newly developed fabric for the back na talagang it won’t cling. And then we have a new tech for the construction of the arm holes and the neck holes.
“So this part is snug and then the other parts won’t cling to the body, making it easier to move. And so you’ll feel good for the rest of the game.”
And for the players, they will also feel good knowing they will never have to endure what Perasol and his teammates went through 32 years ago.
Banner Image from UAAP Media Bureau.