Be it the PBA, the NCAA or the UAAP, Rebel Sports is making its presence felt in major basketball leagues in the country.
Rebel Sports has spent the past few years catering to the international market and for owner Joel Cu, it feels great to be back home and doing service for the basketball-loving Filipinos.
“Nagagawa nga nating mag-silbi sa mga Amerikano at Australian market natin. Bakit hindi natin magawa sa sarili nating bansa? Kaya talagang nagpursige kaming bumalik dito and do service to the Filipinos, who have great passion for basketball,” Cu said.
In the PBA, Rebel Sports has become the outfitter of the GlobalPort Batang Pier, a team led by Terrence Romeo and Stanley Pringle, the most explosive backcourt tandem in the league.
Rebel Sports is also starting to make its mark in the collegiate scene with its involvement with National University in the UAAP and the Lyceum of the Philippines University in the NCAA.
The NU Bulldogs are one among the dark horse teams in the UAAP while the Lyceum Pirates have become the surprise leaders in the NCAA, remaining unbeaten in 12 games.
Like any other companies, they had their birth pains as they folded temporarily in the late 1990s, but concentrated on creating customized shirts in the international market, catering to the demands in the United States and Australia.
“That’s what we’ve envisioned. We are Filipinos yet we were there serving the international market. So we made it a point to come back and become the newest Rebel in the local sporting industry by providing them high quality yet cheaper service,” added Cu.
From a five-man working crew, the company now employs 200 people.
“We’ve learned that to be able to cater to big orders, we need manpower. Now, we have around 200 dedicated people working day and night,” said Cu.
Reliability is another area wherein Rebel Sports wants to focus in.
“We don’t sleep until we finish the uniform. That’s our difference from the other makers. At one time, I even brought the uniform to US. I have a factory also in China, but our people there failed to meet the deadline, so we shipped out from China then had to rush to the US just to bring the 200 sets of football jerseys for a one day tournament and we did them here in the Philippines. Our factory is in the mountains. They live in the mountains. That’s why we’re called Rebels,” added Cu.