CLARK FREEPORT—Michael Gapin isn’t the most recognizable man in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) bubble. But he is perhaps one of the busiest people here, one who oversees an intensive operation that must run like clockwork so the league’s looming restart can go on without a hitch or, worse, a health problem.
To prepare for the enormity of his task, he took a long, hard look at what was happening halfway around the globe.
“Once we knew that [Clark Freeport] got [the hosting of] the PBA’s bubble, the first thing I thought was, ‘OK, let’s check how things are at in the NBA,’” Gapin said.
Gapin is the general manager of Quest Hotel, which houses the 350-strong delegation here. Unlike the NBA, the PBA ‘s restart will operate inside two bubbles bridged together by a 15-minute ride. The playing bubble is at Angeles University Foundation. The second is Mimosa, where the players will reside. Quest is at the heart of Mimosa, and Gapin shoulders the mammoth task of ensuring the bubble’s integrity is not compromised.
Urgent precision
That means hotel operations must run with urgent precision.
From making sure food is safely delivered on time to bubble residents to clearing out the trash of what has practically become a neighborhood, Gapin has to make sure his staff doesn’t miss a step the entire day.
“I’m quite lucky to have a team here because they have been doing a fantastic job and they are really dedicated, committed toward their work. It makes life easier,” said the Frenchman, who borrowed a line common in basketball—and sporting—conversations: “This is a team effort.”
It is a team effort that ensures Gapin still gets his needed rest.
“[I sleep] pretty good, thanks for asking,” Gapin said with a smile as one of his aides, Renzelle Palma, the head of the hotel’s communications wing, watched on.
Besides, the hardest part of running the show, according to Gapin, happened way before guests arrived.
Priming up the hotel and making sure it met the rigid health standards of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases and the Bases Conversion Development Authority kept Gapin buzzing nonstop.
Fortunately, there were two playbooks readily available to him.
Lessons
First was the NBA example, a bubble in Orlando that has, in the months since the American pro league restarted its own stalled season, successfully prevented a COVD-19 outbreak that bogged down other tournaments.
“It was pretty cool to actually really study all the videos [people] made [about it] and really understand how things work,” Gapin said.
Then, there was last year’s stint serving as one of the designated hotels for the Southeast Asian Games’ multinational delegation. That event taught Gapin how to handle VIPs, a status pinned on some of basketball’s biggest stars.
“In the SEA Games, we already had the delegation from throughout different countries—all VIPs, just like [PBA] players,” he said.
“And some players, as you’ve said, have characters. They all have [varying] requirements,” he added.
Two days in, the one end of the PBA’s self-contained isolation zone indeed feels like a well-oiled machine.
Ginebra assistant coach Richard del Rosario said in a previous interview that “schedules are like clockwork.”
And it’s not just precision. Gapin has made sure that his staff helps guests acclimatize to the unique situation, which includes getting locked down for 48 hours after undergoing a swab test upon entry to the bubble.
A female staff member, who delivered bagged meals to the different rooms, gave reassuring pep talks to isolated guests.
“You’ll just have to ride it out, sir. It won’t be long,” she told one room occupant—from a required distance.
“We’ve been here even before you guys arrived. All of us here had been tested and were isolated on a certain floor,” said a male clerk responsible for replacing the trash bin bags.