Patricia Galang Never Stopped Showing Up for UP

Before UP basketball became synonymous with packed arenas, loud crowds, and a community that refuses to stop believing, there was a time when losing was the program’s identity.

Two seasons. Zero wins. Fourteen losses each time.

The UP men’s basketball team was facing a reality that went beyond what happened inside the court. As the only public university in the UAAP, UP had to deal with challenges that its private-school counterparts did not necessarily face in the same way, from funding and equipment, to something as basic as making sure its players were properly provided for.

That was the reality that a group of UP alumni could no longer simply watch from the sidelines.

How Nowhere To Go But UP Began

Among them was Patricia Galang, one of the founding members of what would eventually become the Nowhere To Go But UP Foundation.

What began as an informal group of alumni determined to help the men’s basketball program would eventually grow into a foundation that helped rally the UP community behind a team that was desperately trying to change its fortunes.

“We said that we have to help them because we don’t want to be losing all the time,” Galang recalled. 

“0-14, two seasons of 0-14. So we said, okay, una muna kami, wala, informal group.”

There was no grand blueprint at the beginning. There was simply a group of people who believed that something had to change.

The name came naturally from the situation they were facing. The early years were built from the ground up.

Patricia Remembers Building From the Ground Up

The foundation could not simply wait for major sponsors to arrive because winning was still something UP was trying to establish. The alumni understood the reality: it was difficult to convince people to invest heavily in a team that was struggling to win. So they worked backwards.

“Kasi una, yun ang challenge. Kasi it’s hard to get funding if you’re not winning,” Galang explained. “So we had to first do it backwards. Parang we have to win first kahit papano.”

The support came through small contributions and different sponsors willing to help. It was a grassroots effort, with people giving what they could because they believed that the program deserved a chance to become something more.

Even the smallest victories mattered.

When UP finally earned a win, the community celebrated with a bonfire. Some people laughed at how much attention was being given to a single victory, but the people behind Nowhere To Go But UP understood why it mattered.

“When they were laughing at us that one win palang bonfire na agad,” Galang said. “Parang no, because that was like a start, the start for us and for the winning culture.”

That one win represented something bigger than the number on the scoreboard. It was proof that the program could move forward, and more importantly, that the community could believe in it again.

How the Foundation Supports the Fighting Maroons

From there, Nowhere To Go But UP continued to grow.

Galang, who remains one of the foundation’s founding members and now serves as its corporate secretary, is quick to distinguish the foundation from the men’s basketball team management.

The foundation functions as a booster, helping create the means for the team to compete, while the coaches and coaching staff remain responsible for what happens on the basketball side.

“The coach and the coaching staff will always be the one na masusunod kung anong gusto nilang mangyari sa team, the training,” Galang said.

That separation has allowed the foundation to focus on what it set out to do: build support around the program and make it easier for the team to succeed.

Over time, that support system grew beyond simply finding resources. Sponsors began to recognize what was happening around UP basketball, with companies such as BPI, UniOil, and PalawanPay becoming part of the program’s growing support network.

From Accepting Defeat to a Winning Culture

But perhaps the foundation’s biggest contribution cannot be measured by sponsorships alone.

It helped change how the UP community viewed its basketball team.

Galang believes the community moved from accepting losing as an unavoidable reality to developing a culture that expects the team to compete and fight.

“I would like to believe that we have turned around the mindset of the UP community from a culture that accepts that we’re going to lose to now a winning culture,” she said. “And I’m very proud of that.”

The transformation is visible whenever UP plays.

The community that once had to fight simply to give its team a better chance now fill arenas with the kind of energy that has become closely associated with UP basketball. Alumni, students, and supporters show up not only for rallies and university causes, but also for the athletes representing the school.

“We don’t just show up for rallies, we show up for the games,” Galang said.

That phrase captures what Nowhere To Go But UP has ultimately become.

It is not only about putting resources behind a basketball team. It is about showing the players that an entire community is willing to stand behind them.

Why Patricia Galang Keeps Showing Up

Galang sees that relationship from the sideline every game.

She jokes that she has become so familiar with the arena staff that even the bouncers know her. But once the game begins, her confidence in the program is tested by the same thing every basketball fan experiences: the nerves of watching a close game.

“I will quote on quote watch,” she said. “I’m always on the sideline kasi I mean, the tita in me, I’m so nervous.”

Sometimes, the nerves become too much. When a game gets tight, Galang retreats to the dugout, praying and occasionally peeking back toward the court to see what is happening.

It is a far cry from the beginning, when the biggest worry was simply whether UP could find a win.

Now, even when the team falls behind, Galang sees something different.

“They’re fighters,” she said. 

“Fighters talaga. Yung never say die until they play the entire 40 minutes.”

That mentality is part of what the foundation wanted to help create from the start. The objective was never simply to make UP basketball more financially stable. It was to help create an environment where losing would no longer be accepted as the inevitable ending.

“Walang bibitaw, kahit na alam mong medyo, ah, delikado, na tayo manalo. Pero still, walang bibitaw.”

The funny part is that Galang herself sometimes has to let go, at least of watching.

“Bibitaw ako, bibitaw ako sa panonood. Hindi sa paniniwala.”

Her faith in the team has even taken a physical form. Last season, she began carrying a rosary during games, something that helps calm her down when she knows there is nothing she can do from the sideline.

She cannot call a timeout. She cannot draw up a play. She cannot grab a rebound or take a shot.

All she can do is watch, believe, and pray.

Carrying the Hopes and Dreams of the UP Community

That is also what makes her perspective on the athletes so personal. After more than a decade of watching the program develop, Galang understands how much pressure the players carry when they step onto the court.

“Believe ako sa mga athletes who can withstand the pressure,” she said. “Yung karga nila lahat ng hopes and dreams natin. So, hats off to them.”

Those hopes and dreams are exactly what Nowhere To Go But UP was built around.

What started with a group of alumni looking at two winless seasons became a foundation. The foundation became a support system. The support system helped build belief. And that belief became part of a larger culture surrounding UP basketball.

The story of Nowhere To Go But UP is therefore not simply about how a foundation helped a team find more resources.

It is about what happens when a community refuses to accept that losing is all it can expect.

More than a decade later, Galang is still at the games. She still gets nervous. She still hides in the dugout when the score gets too close. She still reaches for her rosary when there is nothing else she can do.

And she still shows up.

“It doesn’t get any easier. But I will still show up in my own way. I will still show up and I will never stop showing up for them.”