PBA Moto Club: ride on

MANILA, Philippines — The famed PBA Moto Club started out as a mere release from the boredom of being cooped up during the pandemic. It has since evolved into an online phenomenon, garnering millions of views and more than half a million subscribers on YouTube and Facebook.

“We still had that adrenaline rush,” says retired PBA player Rico Maierhofer, who started it all with phone calls. “Nobody could go out during the pandemic. And we also wanted to see how we looked on our motorcycles. But that one ride brought together 11 PBA All-Stars.”

That ride turned into a video. That video turned into basketball games with more members. Those basketball games turned into an online phenomenon, which has helped many of our underprivileged, brothers and sisters.

“The fans wanted to see us play again,” says Jayjay Helterbrand. “We were invited to a charity event by Mav’s Phenomenal. That was the start of our charity work. In one event, we were able to raise P700,000 for National Children’s Hospital. It’s addicting to help other people. The fulfillment you get from changing their lives somehow, seeing them smile.”

In the next few weeks, the PBA Moto Club will travel for exhibition games in Europe and other places, mostly on the invitation of their countrymen and friends they’ve made along the way. It’s all in the spirit of godly service from when Helterbrand and Maierhofer were teammates with Barangay Ginebra San Miguel.

“Jayjay took me to Bible study in 2012,” Rico recalls. “That put me on this path now. Even my wife and I have been able to continue on this path together. And it’s a different fulfillment at being able to create our own charity events. One of our next projects is to help the abandoned elderly.”

“We really try to use our platform to do something that’s good,” Jayjay adds. “There are a lot of people making content out there for fun. But we also want to do something that’s meaningful.”

Their selflessness and genuine care for one another has made the club famous, prosperous and blessed. And it is their shared mission to be a powerful force for charity.

Ride on, PBA Mto Club. Ride on. The full story tonight on Basketball Universe on Facebook and YouTube.