The Making of Gilas NZ Tour

They say things happen in a strange way.  The Gilas team was originally scheduled to play in the Jones Cup in Tiapei.  But because of an international dispute (where a Filipino Coast guard shot and killed a Chinese Tiapei fisherman), the Philippines, who is the defending champion of the Jones Cup, was un-invited to the tournament.

I was already in contact with Chot when this happened.  Chot and I had plans all set to bring the Wellington Saints to Manila to play Gilas from 17 to 21 July.  But due to the Jones Cup’s “uninvite”, I asked Chot if he would consider visiting NZ to get the necessary preparation games instead of the games they would have played in the Jones Cup.

Chot and I then began arranging games to fill up their New Zealand tour.  It was important for Chot that Gilas play competitive teams – teams who had both talented players and also were already organized (a team that had been playing together for some time).  Chot agreed so I started contacting NZNBL teams.

Because there were already preliminary plans with the Wellington Saints, they were the first to agree to play Gilas. I also rang three other teams: the Nelson Giants, Otago Nuggets and the Manawatu Jets.  They were all keen to play Gilas but they could only give a decision after the NBL Finals on 14 July. 

I also suggested to Chot that we could fill some of his time here to consult with legendary Kiwi Coach, Tab Baldwin.  Tab is the coach who brought NZ to a top-4 finish in the 2002 World Championships.  When I got in touch with Coach Tab, he was very keen to help.  Tab suggested three games in Napier.  These were two games with his current team the Hawkes Bay Hawks and one with an NBL-selection team that he would form to play the Gilas as a prelude to the NBL Finals game.

Aside from the Wellington Saints, I was also initially pursuing the national team of New Zealand, the Tall Blacks, to play Gilas either in Manila or NZ.  When they heard that Gilas had plans on coming to NZ, they finally agreed to play Gilas on the 18^th of July.

With that, I had five games scheduled for Gilas on the 12^th, 13^th 14^th, 16^th and the 18^th.  There was one more day that needed to be filled up, the 17^th.  As Gilas would be in Auckland anyway to play the Tall Blacks, I decided to target the Auckland-based Super City Rangers.  While the Rangers was a weak team, they played in the city (Auckland) where with the largest Filipino population. From a crowd-draw perspective, the attraction to play Gilas was an easy decision for the Rangers

With the six games confirmed against quality teams, Gilas had the necessary games to replace the games that they would have played in the Jones Cup in Taipei.  What followed was planning and coordinating for all the logistics (transportation, accommodations, venue hire) required by the team for their NZ training camp.  Chot then assigned me as the NZ camp/tour coordinator to also arrange for all of these.