Legendary FEU coach Kid Santos passes away
November 8, 2017 | 4:11am
MANILA, Philippines — A volleyball legend just lost the biggest match of his life.
Former Far Eastern University coach Florentino “Kid” Santos passed away Wednesday morning due to cardiac arrest brought by diabetes. He was 67.
A well-respected and beloved figure in the local volleyball circuit, Santos is credited for turning the Tamaraws into a powerhouse squad both in the men’s and women’s division.
He played a major role in the school’s 54 championships in both divisions, steering the women’s squad to 19 of its 29 titles in the UAAP.
He is also part of the national team for 15 years and molded the new breed of coaches like George Pascua of Cignal, Ramil de Jesus of F2 Logistics and Shaq Delos Santos of Petron.
Pascua is the architect of Petron’s historic 13-0 sweep in the Philippine Superliga (PSL) All-Filipino Conference in 2015. De Jesus, meanwhile, guided F2 Logistics to the PSL All-Filipino Conference title last year while steering De La Salle University to 10 UAAP crowns.
Delos Santos, for his part, led Petron to the All-Filipino crown this year and spearheaded the PSL All-Star squad to a bronze-medal finish in Sisaket, Thailand few months ago.
“He is like a father to us,” said Pascua, who is organizing a fund-raising tournament dubbed as “Kidlat Cup” on November 12 at the FEU gymnasium in Morayta.
“Even if he’s gone, we will still push through with our fund-raising event. This will serve as a tribute to him for all his achievements on and off the court and, of course, for guiding and advising us in our career path,” added Pascua.
Pascua stressed that aside from being a good coach, Santos is also a great person.
He, in fact, was the one who matched Pascua with his classmate, who soon went on to become his wife.
“He was our PE teacher at FEU back in the day. He would often match and tease us. Little did we know that we would get married and raise a family,” said Pascua, adding that he and his wife would get married again on November 25.
“It’s sad because he will no longer be there to witness this momentous occasion.”
Santos’ wake is at Funeraria Paz in Araneta Avenue, Quezon City.
Internment details to follow.
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