Newly-wed Kiefer Ravena balances the good and the bad as he rejoins Strong Group ahead of their title defense at the William Jones Cup.
Kiefer Ravena is taking the good and the bad in his personal life in stride as he focuses on helping the Strong Group Athletics nail back-to-back championships in the 2025 William Jones Cup beginning this weekend.
Ravena, who is part of the Strong Group championship core returning for their title defense, recently hit highs and lows in his personal life. After marrying fiancé Diana Mackey, the couple also had to deal with a miscarriage.
[READ: Kiefer Ravena, Diana Mackey open up on handling miscarriage with strength and hope]
Having a lot of other things outside of basketball looming over his head, Ravena is confident that he can keep himself focused on the task at hand — especially with pride on the line.
"You know, just keeping my mind fresh. Just focusing on the good things. You know, I just got married. I'm very much happy, very much motivated to play more than just what I'm playing for right now. So, there's a lot of things going against, but I'm more focused on what I have and the blessings that I have,” Ravena said during the Strong Group’s practice on Wednesday.
“So, I'm still fortunate to be able to continue to play basketball here every now and then, mostly in the summer (and) play in front of the kababayans in Taiwan. So, I'm excited," he added.
Ravena will be dealing with some personal matters, though, and is expected to miss the first couple of games for Strong Group.
Nevertheless, he believes that the team will be able to make do without him for the time being — especially with teammates like Jason Brickman and Ian Miller, who will be tasked to takeover playmaking roles in his absence.
“I'm very confident [in the team]. Unfortunately, I have to attend some personal matters prior to this. Before naman ako mag-commit sa Jones Cup, I already disclosed it with coach Charles. So, he was able to come up with a team that I have a strong feeling that they can come out on top,” said Ravena.
“I guess the very crucial part here is without time, time together, practices together, that's probably one downside. But we're all basketball players, we know how to play. And we love basketball, especially now that we're the defending champions. We have a chip on our shoulders and everybody wants to prove something,” he added.
When he gets back, Ravena will hope to contribute positively as the team seeks to be the first Filipino team to take the crown twice in a row at the Jones Cup.
With the added privilege of representing the Philippines, the veteran guard hopes to do it in the best way possible.
“It's always nice to be part of history. So, it's nice to have a piece of that. We carry it on,” Kiefer said.
“You'll never know how long each and every one of us can come out here and represent SGA, represent the country for an international tournament so, we have to make the most out of it."