Internet, ‘pancit canton’ lead to Fil-Am’s discovery

By Beth Celis
Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines–Typical of this so-called cyber age, the discovery of Filipino-American national player Vicky Brick from the University of Maryland, a Division I US NCAA squad, came through the Internet.

And SBP executive director Patrick Gregorio was the one who tracked her down.

“I was searching the US NCAA website one day, in an effort to find a Fil-Am talent for our ladies national team, when I came across Vicky’s photo,” Pato recounted.

“I guess it was pure intuition, because Vicky’s name didn’t sound Filipino and neither did she look like one. But I got curious and read through her bio-data. When I got to the item that said her favorite dish was pancit canton, it was like hitting the jackpot. I knew she must have had some Filipino blood in her,” related Pato, who struck another coincidence when he found out what Vicky’s middle name is.

Gregorio.

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More than Pato, ladies national team coach Fritz Gaston is happy that Vicky was discovered.

“Her presence has raised the team’s level of play. She is definitely an invaluable addition,” Fritz said.

On Friday Vicky leaves with the ladies’ team for Phuket, Thailand where it will compete in the Seaba qualifier for the FIBA-Asia Women’s championship.

Personally, I’m glad that many people are now taking care of our ladies’ team. There’s Jean Henri Lhuillier of Cebuana Lhuillier, Cynthia Tiu of Discovery Suites, Marivic del Pilar of Victory Liner, and Alex Wang of PRC Couriers.

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Last Monday, Jean Henri hosted a sendoff dinner at the California Pizza Kitchen for the women’s team. It was on the same night amateur basketball’s godfather Mikee Romero also tendered a sendoff party at the Kamayan-Saisaki on Edsa for the men’s basketball team, which left for Korea Wednesday to play a series of tune-up games.

It was the first time the lineup of the men’s team was introduced to the PBL ballclubs. In addition to the regular Harbour Centre squad, Mikee said the national squad was going to play in the next PBL conference.

I was surprised to see former PBA player Alex Crisano in the national team lineup. Alex kept telling everybody — except me I guess — that he is now a reformed Christian.

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