Since he was little, the Puerto Rican reggaeton player Jowell He was always linked to basketball, since his father was the late former sports journalist Avelino Muñoz Stevenson.
As a result of that connection, he used to visit the fields with his father, and the announcers invited him to comment on match broadcasts when he was barely nine years old.
Over time, the exponent of the urban genre, whose given name is Joel Muñoz Martínez, began to faithfully follow the National Superior Basketball (BSN) and became a fan of Guaynabo Metsmunicipality where he completed his high school studies.
Jowell never misses a Mets game. He is one of those fans that you can always run into during the BSN season at the Mario “Quijote” Moraldes Coliseum, in Guaynabo. For this reason, he always had in mind getting into basketball in some way, but he had not found the right time until one day he received the call from José Juan Barea to invite him to be the co-owner of the Guaynabo Mets in the Puerto Rican Basketball League (LBP).
“The friends and BSN players themselves always approached me to tell me that I should join a team. There was always that trial. When Barea called me, I knew that was the signal and I took advantage of it because at this moment I feel prepared to do it and eager to contribute.”Jowell said in an interview with First Hour.
“I have always liked basketball. I have been going to that court since I was a child. My idols are Fico López and Quijote Morales. Honestly, I love the basketball tradition in Guaynabo, but I had no plans to get into this. José Juan Barea called me and that was an honor for me,” he added.
Now that the reggaeton player has his hands full with his own franchise in the ‘puertorra’, his goal has been to help the young athletes who compete in the tournament and give them treatment like that provided by teams in professional leagues.
“The vision that the team has for us is that this is like a BSN team. We want the boys to feel professional, even if the league is not.. Let them feel that they are not missing anything. For this, we went from the roots. We asked each of the players what they would like to have. Many requested chiropractors, physical conditioners, personal trainers and we didn’t have that before. Now with our arrival, we are giving them that so that they feel that they are on another level,” he said.
“The thing I like the most is that they are native players from the town they are representing. I think that’s great for the development of young people who aspire to reach the BSN one day. “I found a place where I can help young athletes, and I believe the goal is to get them off the streets through sports, like music was for me,” he said.
In fact, the urban music performer assured that this project is a non-profit one in which he agreed with Barea that, if they raised profits in this campaign, they would use them to prepare the group next year.
And with his entry to the Puertorriqueña, the artist plans to bring a never-before-seen perspective to the tournament, applying what he has learned in the 26 years he has been in the urban music industry.
“Obviously, they come from the basketball culture and I come from music, but within everything there is something that unites us and that is entertainment. I believe that we have to push in the marketing areas to take the franchise and the league to another level. “We are using our social networks and even the marketing teams that we have as artists,” he commented.
Anticipates fever for the Puerto Rican like the BSN in 2021
However, Jowell is not the only public figure who has taken part in this Puerto Rican fever. The salsero Michael Stuart He is the new co-owner of the Industriales de Barceloneta and the comedian Danilo Beauchamp is in talks to join the Grays of Humacao.
For this reason, Jowell thinks that this season the league can explode as happened with the BSN in 2021 with the arrival of Anuel AA y Bad Bunny as joint representatives of the Captains of Arecibo and the Santurce Crab Eatersrespectively.
“According to the potential that I see in the league, it is time for this year to be like the ‘boom’. Remember, the players who are in this league do not play in the BSN and vice versa, so it is an alternative for the fan, in addition to the fact that they are playing in towns that do not have BSN teams.”he asserted.
The 2024 LPB season will begin on November 1, but the Mets’ first game at the Mario “Quijote” Morales Coliseum will take place on the 9th of that month.
