Troy Rike will make good use of the token of appreciation he received from Gilas Pilipinas backer, Chooks-to-Go.
Wednesday afternoon, the 22-year-old Filipino-American big man was invited by Bounty Agro Ventures Inc. president Ronald Mascariñas to his office, as Rike was not able to attend Tuesday evening’s private dinner held for the team.
Still a Gilas cadet, Rike did not know that there was an incentive waiting for him.
Last Monday, during the brawl that happened between players of Gilas Pilipinas and Australian Boomers, Aussie player Chris Goulding had fallen on the sidelines. Rike had the presence of mind to cover Goulding from the fans who were about to mob him.
And that act drew praise from Mascariñas.
“I admire Troy Rike. Rike saved our country last night,” shared Mascariñas. “Kung hindi sa action ni Troy Rike, basag yung ulo nung nakahiga na yun. By protecting this person, nakita niya yung repercussion[s].
“Even with his youth, he saw things beyond that moment.”
With this, Chooks-to-Go gave Rike a check of PHP 100,000 as a token of appreciation. Rike, on the other hand, plans to make good use of it.
“Obviously, I’m new to Gilas. So when I found out Chooks-to-Go was nice enough to give Gilas some incentives to the players, I was very happy,” said Rike.
“And I made the decision to take some of that money and do something good with it. I’m planning to split it and give 50,000 to a Filipino charity and 50,000 to an Australian charity as well.”
The institutions he chose to give the money to are the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute in Australia and World Vision Philippines.
After finding out his intentions, Mascariñas and Chooks-to-Go matched Rike’s donations by giving another PHP 100,000 to the same charities.
“Though young, Troy is showing that he is mature beyond his years,” the sports patron remarked about Rike. “Even if had just been here in the country for just two months, he is proving that he can be an excellent ambassador to the sport both on and off the court.”
“Chooks-to-Go matched my donation by donating a 100,000 as well to both countries,” added Rike. “Going forward, hopefully it will do some good and other people will do the same because that is what basketball is all about — bringing people together and giving people something to cheer for.
“So I hope, this is a good first step to show what we are all about as a country and as a team.”
“Players and my teammates have already expressed their regret for their actions and some Australian players have expressed their regret as well,” expressed Rike. “Obviously, both of us wish what happened would not have had happened because that is not what either country is about.
“We can’t take that back and the only thing we could do is move forward and do some good with that.”
