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Nowhere to go but UP: Group fighting for more alumni support for cellar-dwelling Maroons


Kyles Lao scores for the Fighting Maroons in preseason action KC Cruz


Can so-called "faceless alumni" of University of the Philippines be the much-needed sixth man the woeful Fighting Maroons basketball team this season om the UAAP?
 
A group of UP alumni believes so, calling on members of the UP community to pitch in and give support to the varsity team, material or otherwise.
 
"For the lot of us nameless and faceless alumni, the task of rebuilding entails commitment to go all the way, to never look back until we have reclaimed the glory-of-old. We know it is not easy, but we know it is going to be worth it," it said in a post shared on UP Diliman's Facebook page.

 

 
According to the post by "nowhere to go but UP" - a group claiming to be alumni supporting the Fighting Maroons - it was time for the Maroons to get out of the cellar.

The UP men's basketball team suffered a winless campaign last season, its third in the last seven years.
 
The group - which now claims to number more than 11,000 - started pitching in for the team's most basic needs, including proper nourishment.
 
It said the Maroons "could win if only given a fighting chance, food, a meager allowance, a vehicle to transport them to the games, applause while they played."
 
"We are not a formal organization, much less a corporate entity with any business interest. We are individuals with the same desire to support the same Team by bringing together the UP community and its alumni wherever they may be in the world," it said.
 
In reaching out for more support, the group said it passes the hat every 15th of the month for the players' allowances and meals.
 
"We sell collateral materials for their expenses. The Team has had no complaints. They are content with whatever we can give them though these have certainly been far from enough," it said.
 
But now, it said, "we need more help. We need your help."
 
"The UP Maroons is the People’s Team. It thrives or withers, succeeds or fails, wins or loses, behind the strength of our support - the scholars of the people," it said. - Joel Locsin/JST, GMA News.

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