Mighty Sports (sometimes referred to as Mighty Sports - Go for Gold for sponsorship reasons) is a

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

team based in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

playing in various domestic tournaments. The team won four championships in the Republica Cup in 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2018. The team represented the

when they participated in the 2016 William Jones Cup in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

, their first international tournament which they won with a sweep bearing a record of 8–0. They have competed in the Dubai International Basketball Championship participating in the 2017, 2019, 2020 editions. They became the first team based outside the Middle East to win the Dubai tournament in the 2020 edition. The squad was also the Philippine representative in the 2019 William Jones Cup. Mighty Sports is the athletic arm of sportswear manufacturing company Mighty Sports Apparel and Accessories, Inc.

Competitive record

Republica Cup

Mighty Sports became first known to basketball fans in minor basketball leagues such as the Republica Cup (an invitational basketball tournament held in

Malolos Malolos, officially the City of Malolos ( fil, Lungsod ng Malolos), is a 1st class Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, component city and capital of the Provinces of the Philippines, province of Bulacan, Philippines. According to th ...

Bulacan Bulacan, officially the Province of Bulacan ( tl, Lalawigan ng Bulacan), is a province in the Philippines located in the Central Luzon region. Its capital is the city of Malolos. Bulacan was established on August 15, 1578, and part of the Metr ...

as part of the commemoration of the

First Philippine Republic The Philippine Republic ( es, República Filipina), now officially known as the First Philippine Republic, also referred to by historians as the Malolos Republic, was established in Malolos, Bulacan during the Philippine Revolution against ...

, known as the Malolos Convention). It also sponsored the

Adamson Falcons Adamson may refer to: * Adamson (surname), list of people * ''Adamson'', taxonomic author abbreviation for British botanist Robert Stephen Adamson (1885–1965) * Adamson (automobile), an English automobile model * ''Adamson'' (comic strip) or '' ...

men's basketball team and the

Bulacan State University Bulacan State University (BulSU or BSU; fil, Pamantasang Pampamahalaan ng Bulacan) is a public university in Bulacan province, Philippines. Its main campus is in Malolos. BulSU or BSU originated as a secondary school in 1904 ran by the Americ ...

Golden Gears men's basketball team in the

Filsports Basketball Association Filsports Basketball Association (FBA) was a regional grassroots amateur basketball league based in the Philippines, aiming to discover young and talented basketball players from the provinces and regions. Formed in January 2015, by a group of b ...

, and the Philippine Dragon Boat Team. In 2014, the team, led by former PBA player

Kenneth Duremdes Kenneth Celera Duremdes (born January 31, 1974) is a Filipino retired professional basketball player in the Philippine Basketball Association and the current commissioner of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL). Nicknamed as "Captain ...

and

Kris Rosales Krismoir Sajise Rosales (born December 20, 1990) is a Filipino-American professional basketball player for the NLEX Road Warriors of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He was drafted 19th overall in the 2015 PBA draft by the Barako B ...

, bagged the second Republica Cup title, after winning the finals game against Malolos Republica, 86–84. One year later, the team did not make it to the finals after losing the semifinals match against AMA University. On February 4, 2016, Mighty Sports, now-led by former UAAP MVP

Kiefer Ravena Kiefer Isaac Crisologo Ravena (; born October 27, 1993) is a Filipino professional basketball player for Shiga Lakes of the Japanese B.League. Ravena played for the Ateneo Blue Eagles of the UAAP during his college days. He plays the point gua ...

, successfully reclaimed the Republica Cup championship, beating Hobe Mackway Travel in the finals game, 85–82. In addition, Bright Akhuetie was named as the Tournament MVP.

Pilipinas Commercial Basketball League

In March 2016, the team joined the

Pilipinas Commercial Basketball League Pilipinas Commercial Basketball League (also known as PCBL) was a commercial amateur basketball tournament based in the Philippines that catered to the development and grassroots program for future Filipino basketball players, inspired from the ...

. Historically, this is the first entry into a major basketball league. Ravena, a

2016 PBA draft The 2016 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) rookie draft was an event which allows teams to draft players from the amateur ranks. The league determined the drafting order based on the performance of the member teams for the 2015–16 season, ...

prospect, together with Ty Tang, who came out of retirement in the

Philippine Basketball Association The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is a men's professional basketball league in the Philippines composed of twelve company-branded franchised teams. Founded in 1975, it is the first professional basketball league in Asia and is the se ...

, and import Bright Akhuetie are some of the players who retained in the team's line-up for the Champion's Cup. Mighty Sports also appointed

Bo Perasol Dolreich "Bo" Perasol (born November 30, 1971) is a Filipino basketball coach. He coaches in both collegiate and professional leagues. He is the former head coach of the Ateneo Blue Eagles and the UP Fighting Maroons. Career Bo Perasol was a form ...

as team consultant, Mike Fermin as head coach and Charles Tiu as assistant coach of the team, which is one of the two new teams that competed in the 2016 PCBL Chairman's Cup, alongside SCTEX Road Warriors. On its first game, Mighty Sports completes an upset victory against Founder's Cup champion

Jumbo Plastic Linoleum Giants Jumbo Plastic Linoleum Giants is a basketball team currently playing in the Pilipinas Commercial Basketball League (PCBL). The team debuted during the 2013 Foundation Cup of the PBA D-League. 2013-2015 PBA D-League The PBA Developmental Leag ...

, 79–70 in the opening day of Champion's Cup on March 6, 2016. Ravena led the team's campaign with 16 points.

William Jones Cup

2016

The team represented the

in the 2016 William Jones Cup, with 7 foreign reinforcements leading the team, in lieu of the Gilas Cadets who were not available for playing. They beat team A of host nation

, who were fielding a second team, on their opening match. They then beat the South Korea national team on their second match. They won their third match against the US team

Sacramento State Hornets The Sacramento State Hornets (also Sac State) represent California State University, Sacramento in Sacramento, the capital city of the U.S. state of California, in intercollegiate athletics. The school fields 21 teams including men and women's ba ...

. They beat

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

on their fourth by a blowout of 21 points. They faced the India national team on their fifth match and won by a 20 points margin to remain the only unbeaten team as of the 6th day of the tournament. They cemented the tournament's title by beating

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

on their 6th match. Mighty Sports continued their winning streak by beating

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

in their seventh match and swept the entire competition beating Taiwanese Team B.

2019

Mighty Sports will once again represent the Philippines in the 2019 William Jones Cup from July 12 to 21 in Chinese-Taipei. Charles Tiu returns to lead the coaching staff and his mentor, former Gilas Pilipinas head coach,

Rajko Toroman Rajko Toroman ( sr-Cyrl, Рајко Тороман; born February 10, 1955) is a Serbian professional basketball coach. Coaching career Before 2016, he served as a team consultant for the Barako Bull Energy Cola and the Petron Blaze Boosters i ...

will be the lead assistant. It was also announced that Jeremiah Gray, Roosevelt Adams, Aaron Black, 2019 MPBL Datu Cup MVP Gab Banal,

Jason Brickman Jason Alexander Brickman (born November 19, 1991) is a Filipino-American basketball player for the Kaohsiung Aquas of the T1 League. He completed his college career for the Long Island University Blackbirds after the 2013–14 season. Brickm ...

and

Joseph Yeo Joseph Henry Lim Yeo (born September 7, 1983) is a Filipino professional basketball player for the Manila Stars of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL). He was drafted third overall by the Coca-Cola Tigers in 2006. Amateur career Ye ...

will suit up for the team. Mighty Sports captured their second Jones Cup title after defeating Taiwan-A, 83-76 for a 7–0 record. They then swept the competition after with an 8–0 record.

Merlion Cup

Singapore's Merlion Cup Tournament was revived in

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

and the Mighty Sports were invited as the Philippines' representative. They beat the

Seoul Samsung Thunders Seoul Samsung Thunders ( ko, 서울 삼성 썬더스) is a professional basketball team, competing in the Korean Basketball League. Ever since the club was founded in 1978, they have been associated with Samsung Electronics. Initially based in Su ...

on their opening match. They advanced into the semifinals round after beating

Westports Malaysia Dragons Kuala Lumpur Dragons is a professional basketball team based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia that currently plays in the ASEAN Basketball League. It also played as the Blustar Detergent Dragons in the Philippines' PBA Developmental League in 2016. H ...

, and eventually won against

Singapore Slingers The Singapore Slingers is a Singaporean professional basketball team that currently compete in the ASEAN Basketball League. The Slingers were known as the JobStreet.com Singapore Slingers between 2009 and 2014, due to sponsorship ties with JobS ...

. They advanced in the finals and faced

Shanghai Sharks The Shanghai Sharks () are a Chinese Basketball Association team based in Shanghai. It is best known outside China as the club that developed Yao Ming before he entered the National Basketball Association. With Yao on the team, the Sharks made ...

in which they suffered a defeat, placing them in second after

Jimmer Fredette James Taft "Jimmer" Fredette (born February 25, 1989) is an American former professional basketball player. He last played for the Shanghai Sharks of the Chinese Basketball Association. Fredette was the 2011 National Player of the Year in college ...

scored three freethrows with no time left on the clock.

Dubai International Basketball Tournament

2017

Mighty Sports joined the 2017 Dubai International Basketball Championship with only a couple of weeks to prepare. The tournament took place from February 18 to 25, 2017. Mighty Sports was led by NBA veterans

Hasheem Thabeet Hasheem Thabeet (born Hashim Thabit Manka on 16 February 1987) is a Tanzanian professional basketball player for the Sichuan Blue Whales of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). He played college basketball for UConn before being drafted sec ...

, Dominic McGuire,

Justin Brownlee Justin Donta Brownlee (born April 23, 1988) is an American-born Filipino professional basketball player for the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). College career Brownlee played college basketball at St ...

and naturalized player

Marcus Douthit Marcus Eugene Douthit (born April 15, 1980) is a Filipino-American former basketball player. He graduated from Providence College. After his stint with the Providence Friars, he was drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2004 NBA draft. Born in ...

Chris Tiu Christopher John Alandy-Dy Tiu (born July 15, 1985) is a Filipino former professional basketball player who is currently a television presenter. He played college basketball for the Ateneo Blue Eagles with whom he won the UAAP title in 2008. He ...

and center Beau Belga bannered the local cast along with other PBA veterans JC Intal,

Gary David Gary Ocampo David (born July 13, 1978) is a Filipino professional basketball player for the Pampanga Giant Lanterns of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL). He is a five-time All-Star and co-holds the longest streak for consecutiv ...

, Ryan Araña and two-time PBA MVP

Willie Miller William Ferguson Miller MBE (born 2 May 1955) is a Scottish former professional football player and manager, who made a club record 560 league appearances for Aberdeen. Sir Alex Ferguson described Miller as "the best penalty box defender in th ...

who were added in the team's lineup. Amateur standouts

Jeron Teng Jeron Alvin Uy Teng (born March 21, 1994) is a Filipino professional basketball player for the Converge FiberXers of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). As a PBA player, he usually starts at the swingman position but occasionally plays ...

and Jett Manuel were also added in the team's roster. Due to the lack of cohesion and team chemistry, they lost to host team Al Ahli, 83-75 in the opening day. In their second game, they lost to the

Egypt national basketball team The Egyptian national basketball team is organized and run by the Egyptian Basketball Federation ( ar, الاتحاد المصري لكرة السلة). Winning the title of the EuroBasket 1949 is its most celebrated achievement. In addition i ...

, 84–82, after Ravena's three point attempt, in the last 6 seconds of the game, failed. The day after, they also lost in a close game to Lebanese powerhouse

Sagesse ''Sagesse'' (literal trans. "Wisdom") is a volume of France, French poetry by Paul Verlaine. First published in 1881 (see 1881 in poetry, 1880), it was important in the symbolism (arts), symbolist and modernism, modernist movements. The subject m ...

95–92. The team managed to beat Ball Above All with a score of 94–80 to end their stint in the tournament with a single win.

2019

Mighty Sports participated in the Dubai tournament in February 2019 with SMDC, Oriental Group, Healthcube and Go for Gold as the team's main sponsors. For their 2019 Dubai stint, the team hired the services of former NBA two-time champion

Lamar Odom Lamar Joseph Odom (born November 6, 1979) is an American former professional basketball player. As a member of the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association (NBA), he won championships in 2009 and 2010 and was named the NBA Sixt ...

, Ginebra resident import

, and

Chinese Basketball Association The Chinese Basketball Association (), often abbreviated as the CBA, is the first-tier professional men's basketball league in China. The league is commonly known by fans as the CBA, and this acronym is even used in Chinese on a regular basis ...

import

Randolph Morris Randolph Albert Morris (born January 2, 1986) is a retired former American professional basketball player. High school As a senior for Atlanta, Georgia's Landmark Christian High School, Morris nearly averaged a triple-double at 23.0 ppg, 16.0 rpg ...

. Notable local signings include former Ginebra guard Jett Manuel,

University of the Philippines The University of the Philippines (UP; fil, Pamantasan ng Pilipinas Unibersidad ng Pilipinas) is a state university system in the Philippines. It is the country's national university, as mandated by Republic Act No. 9500 (UP Charter of 200 ...

playmaker Juan Gomez de Liano, Gabriel Banal,

, La Salle forward Santi Santillan, De La Salle-College of St. Benilde high flyer Justin Gutang and

Mono Vampire The Mono Vampire Basketball Club () is a Thai basketball team that previously played in the ASEAN Basketball League. They have also participated at the Thailand Basketball League. It is owned by Mono Group, a Thai media and technology conglome ...

guard

. The team also signed Fil-Am prospects Jeremiah Gray and Roosevelt Adams followed by

National University A national university is mainly a university created or managed by a government, but which may also at the same time operate autonomously without direct control by the state. Some national universities are associated with national cultural or po ...

big man Troy Rike to complete the lineup. Mighty Sports finished third winning over the

Homenetmen Lebanon Homenetmen Sports Association Lebanon ( ar, الجمعية الرياضية هومنتمن لبنان; ) is a Lebanese-Armenian multi-sports club and scouting movement. Established in 1924, it is part of the worldwide pan-Armenian Homenetmen ...

in the third-place play off. They only lost once, to Lebanese club Al Riyadi in the semifinal.

2020

Mighty Sports made their third appearance at the Dubai International Basketball Championship in 2020. They became the first team based outside the Middle East to win the tournament when they won 92–81 over

Al Riyadi Beirut Al Riyadi Club Beirut ( ar, نادي الرياضي بيروت, lit=Sporting Club Beirut) is a multi-sports club based in Manara, a district in Beirut, Lebanon. Founded in 1934, the basketball team competes in the Lebanese Basketball League. T ...

in the final. Mighty Sports player

Renaldo Balkman Renaldo Miguel Balkman (born July 14, 1984) is a Puerto Rican professional basketball player, who most recently played for the Mets de Guaynabo of the Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN). He also represents the Puerto Rican national team. He p ...

was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player.

2023

For the 2023 Dubai International Basketball Championship, Mighty Sport itself would not be returning. Instead Strong Group Realty of Jacob Lao, which Mighty and Acto City sponsored, competed in their stead. Strong Group, also coached by Charles Tiu, failed to repeat Mighty's feat, and finished as quarterfinalists.

Partnerships

Mighty Sports had a partnership with the

Bulacan Kuyas Koponang Lakan ng Bulacan is a professional basketball currently playing in the Pilipinas Super League, and formerly in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) and the Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas 3x3. It was first owned by the Provincial Gov ...

of the

Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League The Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) is a men's professional basketball league in the Philippines. History Manny Pacquiao launched the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League on August 29, 2017, starting off as a semi-professional lea ...

(MPBL) in the 2018 MPBL Datu Cup as the team's corporate sponsor. In 2023, Mighty Sport sponsored Strong Group Realty's basketball team which entered the 2023 Dubai International Basketball Championship.

Brand image

The sportswear manufacturing company behind Mighty Sports adopted its logo in July 2019 which is also used by its sports teams. It consist of an "M" with a three-pronged crown.

Roster

2020 Dubai International Basketball Championship

The following is the 12-man roster of the Mighty Sports-Go for Gold for the 2020 Dubai International Basketball Championship. , style="vertical-align:top;" , ; Head coach *

Charles Tiu Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was "f ...

; Assistant coaches *

Will Voigt William Voigt (born August 18, 1976) is an American basketball coach who last served as head coach of Zamalek of the Egyptian Basketball Super League. As the head coach, he led the Nigerian team to its first ever AfroBasket title in 2015, wher ...

* Dean Castaño * Tyrone Tang * Paolo Layug ; Team manager * Wowie Evangelista ---- ;Legend: *(C) Team captain *(I) Import *Nat. – Flags indicate national team
eligibility at FIBA sanctioned events *Age – describes age
on January 9, 2019

Past

;2019 William Jones Cup The following is the 12-man roster of the Mighty Sports-Go for Gold for the 2019 William Jones Cup. , style="vertical-align:top;" , ; Head coach *

; Assistant coaches * Woody Co * Dean Castaño ; Team manager * Wowie Evangelista ---- ;Legend: *(C) Team captain *(I) Import *Nat. – Flags indicate national team
eligibility at FIBA sanctioned events *Age – describes age
on January 9, 2019 ;2017 Dubai International Basketball Tournament The following was the 14-man roster of the PH-Mighty Sports for the 2017 Dubai International Basketball Tournament. , style="vertical-align:top;" , ; Head coach * Charles Tiu ; Assistant coach * Sandy Arespacochaga * Moriah Gingerich * Mike Fermin ; Team manager * Jean Michael Alabanza ---- ;Legend: *(C) Team captain *(I) Import *Nat. – Flags indicate national team
eligibility at FIBA sanctioned events *Age – describes age
on February 18, 2017 ;2016 Merlion Cup The following was the 14-man roster of the PH-Mighty Sports for the 2016 Merlion Cup. , style="vertical-align:top;" , ; Head coach * Charles Tiu ; Assistant coach * Dominic Uy * Moriah Gingerich ; Team manager * Jean Michael Alabanza ---- ;Legend: *(C) Team captain *(I) Import *Nat. – Flags indicate national team
eligibility at FIBA sanctioned events *Age – describes age
on September 21, 2016

Depth chart

;2016 William Jones Cup The following was the 14-man roster of the Philippine Mighty Sports for the 2016 William Jones Cup.http://www.slamonlineph.com/look-mighty-sports-ph-roster-for-2016-william-jones-cup-revealed Roster of Mighty Sports for 38th Jones Cup

Honors

Domestic

*Republica Cup :: Winners (4): 2013, 2014, 2016, 2018 *

:: Runner-up (1): 2016 Chairman's Cup

International Invitational

William Jones Cup The R. William Jones Cup (), also known as the Jones Cup, is an international basketball tournament organized by the Chinese Taipei Basketball Association (CTBA) held annually since 1977 in Taiwan. It was named in honor of basketball promoter ...

:: Winners (2):

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

Merlion Cup The Merlion Cup was an invitational football tournament that was held in Singapore annually from 1982–1986, in 1992, 2009 and 2019. Participants included full national sides, Olympic sides, Invitational XI's and club teams. After the 1986 tou ...

:: Runners-up (1):

Notable players

Note: Players mentioned below are NBA Veterans and Naturalized Filipinos only who played and received various awards.

References

{{reflist, 2 Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League Pilipinas Commercial Basketball League Basketball teams in the Philippines