A grant from Heritage, four times MVP

Remember the famous Captain America line in the record-breaking movie Avengers: Endgame, the latest installment in Marvel’s hit movie series?

“Whatever is needed.”

Well that’s what ‘Captain Lionheart’ Alvin Heritage, the four-time MVP, is doing to help Magnolia Hotshots Pambansang Manok even from outside the “bubble” in the PBA reboot.

Heritage, now the team manager for the basketball club, is providing assistance with team needs, including essentials for the players, coaches, and everyone on the team in Clark, Pampanga.

“We bring the usual needs of the team, we left on Wednesday and returned on Friday. At least we bring their personal needs directly from the families, ”Patrimonio said when contacted by Manila Newsletter Sunday.

“Even there we can help the team, the players, the coaches, the usefulness of the team. In some ways we’re still there as part of the team and still helping even though we’re out of the PBA bubble, ”said Patrimonio, known in the league by his abbreviated“ Cap ”nickname.

Of the company’s own Magnolia Fresh Milk and Magnolia Chocolait products, as well as San Mig Coffee, the boxes of these items were brought in by Patrimonio, Liaison Officer Jojo Peralta, and the Reena Dimaculangan del Mundo corporate public relations team.

From the San Miguel Corporation office where they obtain the company’s items, Patrimonio said they go to the team’s practice facility in Ronac, San Juan, where they collect the families’ personal needs.

Another collection point is the Petron gas station in Marilao, Bulacan.

Before the players, coaches and team members get their respective things, Peralta said health and safety personnel disinfect all items in the “Delivery” area of ​​the Quest Hotel.

“What Cap and I do is take the items down to Drop Off and then sanitize all the items that we bring in before we deliver the boxes and other items to the team,” Peralta said.

Heritage said that since they can only do those things and not mingle with team members, players still communicate with them by watching from their hotel rooms.

“It is also exciting because when they know we are in the area, they will wait for us … waiting for others to say hello, others will shout a greeting from the windows of the rooms,” he said.

“It is also exciting because when they know we are in the area, they will wait for us … waiting for others to say hello, others will shout a greeting from the windows of the rooms,” he said.

“You can also feel that the players miss us, they are also caught in your ‘bubble’ joke, they have been in for two months. So we do what we can to make them happy. “

According to Patrimonio, who played for the PBA from 1988 to 2004, everyone involved within the bubble, from players to coaches to staff, must be mentally tough in this setup.

Being away from their respective families, he said, is a difficult thing to do.

Heritage said he also had the same experience of being away from his family while playing for the national team in the 1980s and 1990s, times when communication was difficult.

“At that time there was no cell phone, no internet, no letter or telegram … which was still available, then long distance call. So it was very difficult, from two, three weeks, to a month, ”he said.

“It’s not like today is a video call where you can see your loved ones. But we understand that it is different for you to be away from your family for so long, it is still difficult for them ”.

“That is why the PBA restart must not only be physically prepared, it must be mentally strong because they will miss the family. That is why we think about approaching their needs that come directly from the families, ”said Patrimonio.