After a lot of hard-work, training and maintaining a reputation as a team-first player, Reinen Gallarza, was invited to play alongside three other teammates at multiple basketball tournaments in both the Philippines and South Korea during this summer.
JR Gallarza, who is a basketball coach and founder of ROLE basketball academy in Brantford, and Reinen’s father, discussed the initial opportunity to participate.
“Reinen spent a good chunk of this past season playing on multiple teams, including the Brantford Hawks, as well as being a practice player…and part of the UPLAY program. Because of his play and that he was well-liked by his teammates, he was invited to come out to the tryouts, and he made it on the teams to train, tour, and play in the Philippines and Korea,” JR Gallarza said. “The trip, which was organized by Ron Clarin (who also functioned as the team’s manager), provided Reinen a chance to both train and vacation. Between Monday to Friday, they were practicing with some of the local high school and elementary school teams, and during the weekends would play at the tournaments. Reinen played in about four local tournaments in the Philippines, with the big global one in Korea called Asia Youth Basketball Championship. His whole trip lasted (just over a month) from June 28 to July 30.”
Reinen, who has been playing basketball for many years, enjoyed the experience, adjusting and learning new approaches to the game.
“It was a lot of hard work, but my teammates and I got a lot better and had a lot of fun. We stayed in the Philippines for a few weeks before going to Korea. The overall experience was great, but some highlights for me was the first tournament that we played in where we won gold and went undefeated. We played in about four tournaments in the Philippines and each one was different, and I had a chance to get to know my core teammates a bit better. Four of us went, but I played with others players too. I felt that we became closer during this trip, like brothers,” Reinen Gallarza remarked. “I learned how to adjust to the different styles of basketball. I felt it was a bit more physical and faster and their transition games were better than what I was used to. I also learned to regulate the way I played…controlling my breathing and remaining calm in tough situations. Another thing was that I played with one of my dad’s former teammates. That was really fun and getting a chance to also train at a place where my dad did too when he played in the Philippines.”
Nevertheless, while Reinen enjoyed playing in the Philippines, he was tested when the team went over to South Korea.
“All the teams there were from Asia, except for us…we were the only team there that was from outside Asia. The tournament was well organized…we had a couple of exhibition games before playing in the tournament where we made it to semifinals,” Reinen stated. “The teams that really stood out for me were the Korean teams there, especially one team who were were really aggressive and very fast while still having good level of sportsmanship.”
Although JR Gallarza didn’t travel overseas, he watched his son play and compete on an international stage.
“I was able to stay up and watch a lot of the live streams. It great seeing that he was able to be challenged in the Philippines and in Korea. I felt like he got better over the stretch [and] his on-ball defense was great. I thought his presence on the court was solid. As a coach, I always watch body language on the bench when a player is getting subbed off [and] other things we don’t often notice. It was always nice to see when he was cheering on his teammates, when he was when he wasn’t on the court [and] he was always the first one to stand up and give them a high five,” JR Gallarza commented. “But ultimately, it was great for Reinen to be able to go there and have those experiences and for me and his mom, the biggest buy in to allowing him and funding the trip was to make sure that he was going to be able to grow in more of a worldly sense… to try different foods, speak some of the language, and make new friendships.”
And the young player will continue playing basketball across multiple teams as JR explained.
“He recently made the Tri-City Basketball Academy (TCBA), prep basketball program, again…as a practice player. And this gives Reinen, along with about seven other practice players, a chance to learn and train with players who are a bit older…as they are in Grades nine and ten. It’s a prep basketball program for rain in and a few other players I think there’s like five, five to seven practice guys,” JR Gallarza explained. “Reinen will also be doing try-outs for his main club team, the Brantford Hawks, soon. It will be a priority for him to make it to the team. Hopefully he’ll be there, which will be his fourth year there. He has been there from U10 and he’s now entering the U14 program which is exciting. So, he will have a busy 2025-26 season.”
However, Reinen is looking to build on his skills and experience entering this coming season, while also focusing on his studies.
“I have always really liked playing basketball, but after this trip, it has made me appreciate the sport a bit more and have grown to really love it. During this past year, I was in a bit of a slump and felt like I wasn’t performing at a level I should have…but this trip gave me a boost. I feel much more ready now and excited to play this coming season,” Reinen Gallarza reflected. “When it comes to basketball my goals are to improve myself a lot and get more athletic and work on my finishing [while], I’m trying to work my way just to scoring more points and getting less turnovers, by improving on my ball handling skills. And for school, my goal is to get straight A’s and become Valedictorian.”
