BY: ADELINE DELADISMA – SPORTS ON AIR USA CONTRIBUTOR
SAN ANTONIO — Decked out in her Spurs cap and black jacket sporting a Filipino flag on its left lapel, Jocelyn Enriquez surveyed the nearly 300 Filipino Americans taking in the pregame warmups before the San Antonio Spurs were set to face the Houston Rockets.
Perhaps best known for her Top 40 hit “Do You Miss Me?” the longtime San Antonio resident’s excitement was palpable.
“We’re ready to represent!”
Energized by the Filipinos around her, Enriquez admits that when she first arrived, she wasn’t sure if there was a Filipino community in San Antonio. Originally from San Francisco, she and her family moved to the area in 2005.
“When we first moved here, I didn’t know if we’d have any access to Filipino food or commodities. I went nuts, ” she laughed. “I stocked up on sacks of rice, jugs of soy sauce and vinegar. Just so I could have a little taste of home.”
What she found was a community of fellow Filipinos that has only continued to grow.
On March 12, the San Antonio Spurs celebrated Filipino Heritage Night, facing one of the few Filipino players in the NBA, Rockets shooting guard Jalen Green. The Spurs have amassed 9.9 million faithful in the Philippines and are one of the top five franchises in terms of fanbase in the country.
The Spurs have always valued their Filipino fans, hosting the last Heritage Night before the pandemic, and there are Filipinos throughout the organization.
Katrina Palanca, the Vice President of Global Partnerships, whose team is responsible for growing the corporate sponsorships visible throughout the Frost Bank Center and on the team jerseys, is a more recent transplant to the area and started her role with the Spurs three years ago. “I started by looking up restaurants and finding a Jollibee was a good sign that there was a community here.” Her husband has also participated in a Filipino basketball tournament in town. The Filipino basketball community is so strong in San Antonio that there is a local Filipino league that runs nearly all year long.
Tanya Navalta-Marquez has been with the Spurs organization for 15 seasons, starting as a part time employee with the game operations department, tumbling across the court, throwing out t-shirts and helping with on court promotions. She now serves as the Senior Employee Experience Manager and has been instrumental in starting and reviving the celebration.
“It was important that we bring back a dedicated Filipino Heritage Night because it felt like our work wasn’t done. The pandemic caused a hiatus and during that time I had the opportunity to build some special relationships within the San Antonio Filipino community, so it felt like the right time to revive our efforts,” says Navalta-Marquez.
“I’ve always had great pride in being a Filipina-American and it’s no secret that Filipinos love basketball, so why not serve as the vessel to bring the Fil-Am community together? I am lucky to work for an organization that values creating spaces where everyone belongs and lucky to have coworkers who respect my Filipino heritage and help amplify my passion. I have to give credit to my friend and coworker, Nancy Gonzales, who worked behind the scenes to get our Filipino Heritage Night off the ground.”
The Filipino Heritage Night festivities included specially printed T-shirts and the chance for the participants to watch the teams in pregame shootaround up close from the lower bowl of the arena. Enriquez and her husband, Alain Macasadia, were chosen as Spurs Super Fans and were featured on the center court Jumbotron. Members of several Filipino community groups were recognized on court prior to the game and proceeds from tickets sold for the event will be donated to these groups.
One of the nonprofit groups that will benefit is CABSAT (Communities Aligning Baguio and San Antonio), which is the community organization that advocated and worked toward establishing the Sister City relationship between Baguio and San Antonio that was formalized in 2023.
Melinda Rodriguez, PT DPT, who is the President of CABSAT, came to San Antonio in the early 90s as a physical therapist and has watched the Filipino community here grow. According to Rodruiguez, it was one of the wishes of San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg (who is part Filipino) to establish a Sister City relationship with a city in the Philippines.
“I am thankful that the Spurs have supported our efforts,” says Rodriguez.
The Mayor of Baguio has also visited San Antonio and attended a Spurs game. The Sister City relationship is built on five pillars (education, arts and culture, medicine, military and economic development), sports are part of the arts and culture pillar. Other exchange activities of the group include a medical mission to Baguio last month and the development of a Sister City garden in Baguio which will feature a replica of San Antonio that will include city highlights like the Riverwalk.
While the Spurs eventually fell to the Rockets, 103-101, in a nail-biting finish, that did not dampen the spirits of the Filipinos in attendance.
“Unless we have a big function, you don’t realize how many of our Kababayan we have here,” said Enriquez. She believes events like this are significant. “They will create awareness and even a celebration of our community. There are so many Filipinos in San Antonio, we just don’t know yet how big our community is. This will only get better.”
