Why we need basketball programs
In the NCAA, the Red Lions achieved the championship repeat as expected, but in the UAAP, the Blue Eagles fell short of a finals slot. The comparative results may not have put a double smile on the face of patron MVP or Manny V. Pangilinan, who will have to wait another year for the teams he supports to tangle as same-season champs in a climactic intra-league challenge.
But there’s still something to be said for the efficacy of honorable basketball programs, and the success rate they generate among teams whose member-athletes are also supposed to earn an education.
A friend whom I know would prefer to remain anonymous — and who has long relinquished his role in helping set up the Ateneo de Manila University sports program — is proud to say that what was established at the turn of the millennium not only brought a UAAP title to the Loyola campus, but also continues to ensure that basketball players actually graduate from the university with a hard-earned degree.
“It’s essential that they get a diploma,” he avers. “It’s their future at stake. They may not have successful careers as professional basketball players. Some don’t even get to enter the pro league. That is why when we instituted the program, far apart from the fund-raising we had to conduct involving supportive alumni, we had to sit down with academic officials so we could all be on the same page as far as the players’ educational regimen was concerned.”
He recalls an initial meeting with Fr. Ben Nebres when they candidly asked the ADMU president what in his view could be “compromised” in terms of academic requirements. Fr. Ben’s reply was that the core curriculum was non-negotiable.
Then they knew where they stood, and that the sports program they had in mind should not take a cue from rival teams that signed up players on what was tantamount to a mercenary basis.
“We vowed to have a sports program that would ensure the best training for a gifted player, help him in his dreams to eventually play in the PBA. The program would have to be institutionalized, so that it can withstand personnel changes, meaning that whoever sits there and helps conduct it would serve while adhering to the primary concept: that we would have good athletes who will also stand up to the educational challenge.”
Understandably, some standout young players just out of high school and facing recruitment were apprehensive. “I’m expected to perform as a regular student?” was a common question, asked in all honesty and concern. The prospective recruit was assured that the program would include tutorship, that he would get help in his studies.
Of course some leeway would have to be allowed, since varsity players spend many hours daily on the training courts. Discussion with academic officials led to a system where the athletes were advised on the courses they took. Admittedly, the easiest was Interdisciplinary Studies, which allowed more than the usual number of electives.
Whatever the desired course, the subjects were classified as either very hard, hard or easy. The players were advised to stretch out their respective curricula to five years, or the same period of time they could play in the college league. Upon semestral registration, they were told to arrange to have no more than one “hard” subject per semester.
Still, some players would occasionally fail to make the grade. Current prized center Ford Arao, for instance, was once meted academic suspension until he managed to meet the minimum standards. Like everyone else in the team, he still undertakes rigorous tutoring sessions, with student assistants helping out in the writing of papers or preparing them for tests and exams.
The university officials and the alumni tenders and supporters are happy with the results. So are the college players who have already graduated, such as L.A. Tenorio of the last Ateneo championship team. While his future is assured as a professional athlete now playing for San Miguel in the PBA, he makes sure to express his gratitude for the sports program that privileged him with an Ateneo degree. So do his ring-worthy teammates and fellow PBA players such as Rico Villanueva, Wesley Gonzales and Larry Fonacier
Some observers point to a different kind of recruitment and athletic program that makes light of academic discipline, such as was evidenced a few years back when certain players interviewed on TV couldn’t even describe the nature and scope of the courses they were taking.
Then there are the outright mercenaries that have embarrassed other schools in both the UAAP and the NCAA when they were suspected of, or actually found to be involved in, game-fixing. A recent case was only the latest in the seasonal discovery of street-smart players selling their basketball savvy with no regard to school loyalty, let alone honorable conduct.
Now, lest this article give the impression of a sour-graping mode in view of the Blue Eagles’ failure last week to get past their staunchest rivals, let’s move on to another successful basketball program — that of our Alma Mater, San Beda College.
Congrats to the Red Lions, back-to-back champs. Decidedly, the SBC seniors team has benefited from strengthened alumni resolve to preempt the vulnerability of years past when the ranks of champion junior teams were raided by other schools that offered more substantial scholarships.
Now the seniors team manages to hold on to standout junior players, who continue to play together as they mature. This has led to a breakout year for Ogie Menor, for instance, and it isn’t just his Mohawk hairstyle that has turned the trick.
There’s something to be said about continuity. Some of his teammates on the juniors team are also finding this out, on their way to championship ring after ring in the seniors division while staying on in the same nurturing environment as only a Benedictine community can provide.
Now if only a rethink can be applied on the reported plan to field yet another Nigerian “behemoth” next year. We don’t need that, methinks, as it may provoke complaints of an “overkill” in terms of “foreign import” recruitment. Unless Sam Ekwe were to really proceed on the path of taking his vow as a Benedictine, and his countryman were to do the same, rivals could well accuse the Mendiola camp of abusing the parameters of foreign recruitment.
No, if we relied more on our homegrown kids, suitably boosted by such prized finds as Pong Escobal, and maintained the strong support provided by loyal alumni, it would be more “honorable” for Coach Frankie Lim, Bedan, to register a three-peat next year, or even stretch it to a dynastic reign for our beloved Red Lions.
Besides, serial crowns may yet be won by simply having every alumnus and Bedan supporter acquire a copy of a good product that instills pride in the legacy all Bedans are part of. I speak of the commendable CD project, “Umpah! Umpah! SBC Battle Hymns and Cheers,” that was launched on Sept. 18 at a pep rally in the Mendiola campus, as well as on a Bedan Night that evening at Katips restaurant on Sct. Torillo, QC.
The CD, a brainchild of SBC high school alumni of the early ’70s, principally Bu Castro, Boy Vinzons and Allen Mercado who collaborated with several alumni cheerleaders, was also selling briskly at the Araneta Coliseum during the best-of-three championship series against Letran. Priced at P350, the CD benefits the SBC Band and the SBC Cheerleading Association.
The sound quality matches the musicality inherent in the “25 proud and roaring tracks,” including the collectible Bimbo Danao recordings and some minus-one tracks. The old version of the SBC Alma Mater Hymn as sung by the musical legend Bimbo Danao of the 1950s is included. For this alone, the disc is worth the price. In fact I still think this old hymn shouldn’t ever have been replaced.
Other tracks feature the following: Go! San Beda! Fight!; San Beda Will Win The Game Today; San Beda Go! Go! Go!; Stand On The Grandstand; Ice Cream Ice Drop; Fight! Bedans! Fight!; Spanish Fleas (Instrumental);
Interested parties may call the SBCAA Alumni Office at 735-5995 and ask for Wilma. then yell into her ear: “Go, San Beda! Fight!”
