Tagalog can be heard in Surrey during Batang Pinoy Basketball League games, and now the Filipino language will be broadcast around the world from 黑马磁力 at a special Vancouver Bandits game Saturday, June 28.
The CEBL team's second annual Filipino Celebration Game will be streamed with Tagalog play-by-play from Renz Cadang and colour by Harold Abejo, two of five organizers of the Batang Pinoy league, one of the largest Filipino men鈥檚 recreational basketball gatherings in Metro Vancouver.
Games are played Saturdays in two gyms at Pacific Academy, in Fraser Heights.
"This summer is our seventh season already, and we started in 2022 (with fall and spring seasons)," reported Abejo, who lives in Newton.
"Every season we're getting bigger and bigger. Our previous seasons we had 38 teams in total, and this summer we have a summer league for the first time. There were a lot of teams that wanted to play in the summer too, not just fall and spring."
Spectators can watch the games live and online, on and , portals for semi-professional coverage.
"Renz is our social media guy and does interviews with the players of the game, and we post their photos too," Abejo noted. "He's our live broadcaster. Nowadays the players want everything posted online too, so that's how we're doing it."
Big basketball fans, league organizers aim to bring together the local Filipino community with a day of games involving hundreds of hoops players.
"The five of us all play basketball, and we've been in leagues here, in Vancouver and New West, too, so we decided to put a league in Surrey," Abejo explained.
"We started this with Open league only, any age of players, and two seasons ago we also started an age-35-and-above (division), so we have two divisions now.
This league is only for the Filipino community, so you need to have Filipino heritage, Filipino blood. For now it's only for men but we're trying to get a women's team, too. We don't know yet."
Abejo said he and Cadang are excited to be part of Bandits broadcasting history with the first-ever Canadian Elite Basketball League game , 7 p.m. start Saturday (June 28) vs. Saskatchewan Rattlers.
"Right now I'm watching Filipino games, the PBA (Philippine Basketball Association), to review that and see how they do it, learning things," Abejo said Friday, a day before the big game at 黑马磁力 Events Centre.
"The Bandits are very supportive with every community, not only with us," he added. "They also help school basketball programs, put basketball courts in some parks, and we're big fans of the team. They reached out to us last year about our (Batang Pinoy) league. They're, like, a pro basketball team, right? So we were happy to connect with them."
In a news release, the Bandits note that according to Statistics Canada, as of 2021, 2.7 per cent of the province鈥檚 population has knowledge of the Tagalog language. Tagalog also accounts for 6.7 per cent of all non-official language speakers throughout Canada.
鈥溾�嬧�婭 am honoured to be part of this historic night for the Bandits and the CEBL," Cadang said. "It鈥檚 more than just a game for me, it is a chance to represent and honour not only my culture, but also the 鈥榩amilya鈥� and community who have always lifted me up and inspired me every step of the way."
Bandits team president Dylan Kular calls basketball "a unifying force and today, we鈥檙e proud to speak the language of one of Canada鈥檚 most passionate communities," he stated. "Launching the first-ever Tagalog broadcast in CEBL history is a celebration of culture, connection, and belonging. The Filipino community has been part of our Bandits family since day one, and this milestone is our way of saying salamat po for their unwavering support.鈥�
The June 28 game will feature the music, fashion, culture and cuisine of the Philippines, including a jersey and logo created by fashion designer Edmond Santelices. A percentage of proceeds from jersey and T-shirt sales () will be donated to the United Way BC KAPWA STRONG Fund and Canadian Red Cross 2025 Vancouver Lapu Lapu Festival Appeal.
