Strong Group Athletics is also open to suggestions for a moniker!
Taking over the Gerflor Defenders franchise was not the plan for the Strong Group Athletics (SGA), at first.
Jacob Lao, SGA's managing director, shared as much to One Sports' The Game on Tuesday, as they spoke of their latest endeavors in both the Premier Volleyball League and in the Dubai International Basketball Championship.
SGA announced their move to enter the PVL on Saturday, January 13, taking over the Gerflor franchise after helping pay the Defenders' salaries.
"It was Christmas time. We say they were having problems. Boss Frank (Lao) reached out. It's Christmas, you don't want to have a sad Christmas," Jacob Lao said.
"The owner of Gerflor, he gave the franchise to us and we rebranded it."
"Was that the original plan? That you were going to take over?" Host Boom Gonzalez asked.
"No," Lao replied. "We were already having a hard time with the (Farm Fresh) Foxies. But you can never help enough people."
"More than us, it's more of how can we help these volleyball players grow," he added.
The Strong Group Athletics' new squad will be considered a sister team to the Farm Fresh Foxies, which made a big time announcement last Saturday with nine recruits. Leading the charge were outside spiker Jolina dela Cruz from the F2 Logistics Cargo Movers, opposite spiker Caitlin Viray from the Choco Mucho Flying Titans, and setter Anj Legacion from the PLDT High Speed Hitters.
"We're in it for the long term," Lao said. "We want to stay in the PVL as long as we can. The end goal is we want to be like Creamline (Cool Smashers). That's our goal, we want to win."
"At the same time, it's gonna take a lot of time, a lot of recruitment," Lao admitted. "We're just staying patient, trying to develop these players."
So first thing's first, what would SGA's new team be called?
"Wala pa. 'Di pa namin naiiisip 'yun," Lao said. "If you guys have any suggestions, we'd be very happy."