For Ateneo's Kirk Long, there are no shortcuts to being fit

The Ateneo Blue Eagles are on an amazing 13 straight wins, no loss slate as they capture a thrice-to-beat advantage for the UAAP Season 74 finals. In the forefront is team captain all-American Jeffrey Kirk Long who has spent 20 years in the Philippines and plans to spend the rest of his life here.

Playing for Ateneo for five years now, the 6’1” guard, who celebrated his birthday last September 1, has always been in the limelight as a UAAP superstar. If you don’t believe me, just watch the games live and you will see at least a hundred people wearing a number 12 jersey with Long printed above it!

It’s easy for Kirk to win fans as he is a passionate athlete, an excellent ball handler, a strategic team player, and a colorful college hunk (it’s a guessing game what hair color or style he will sport). We interviewed him on campus on a Friday with his longer hair dyed black, only to spot him on a Sunday for the Ateneo-La Salle game with a blond crop.

Kirk has modeled on the ramp and in print for various brands such as Regatta as well as graced several magazine covers. Discover how proud he is of his team and prouder even of his family — his pastor father who remains his role model and his mom, his biggest and most loyal fan (Kirk reminded us to tell him when this article is coming out as his mom wants to get several copies).

PHILIPPINE STAR: Was there a time in your life when you were fat or skinny or sickly? How did you overcome that?

JEFFREY KIRK LONG: When I was younger, a lot of my classmates matured faster than I did so I was a pretty skinny kid growing up. So, even though I had played more basketball or I’d done more sports than my classmates, sometimes they were just physically stronger than I was. I didn’t really get picked on, but maybe pushed around in the sports I played when I was younger. I’ve never been too extra chubby except when I was very young.

Is basketball your main sport? Who’s your biggest influence in basketball?

Yes, my main sport now is basketball. The biggest influence is probably my dad because growing up in the Philippines, he was playing a lot of basketball and I enjoyed going to his games and seeing him and his friends play. He took me to Bohol when I was young and to Bacolod and all over Negros Oriental. I really traveled with him a lot and got to watch him play basketball, so just that influence of being around a bunch of guys and being on the court a lot made me really get into the sport. I was able to develop my skills at a young age and since I wanted to play with my dad, I had to learn how to mature fast and really play hard and play smart.

You want to be a coach. Who are your role models and what are the greatest lessons you’ve learned from them?

I’ve had a lot of great coaches, I can’t really just credit Coach Norman ’cause there’s also my high school coach. I’ve also gotten to spend some time with Erik Spoelstra, the Miami Heat coach whenever he comes to the Philippines. I think I wanna be a coach just because of the coaches I do know and I know how much they love basketball. But also, I know how they care about their players. It’s just a fun way to be able to share your experience and skills or talents with your players. At the same time, you get to know your players and be a positive influence in their lives. You are not just teaching them skills on the court but also how life can be and what they can learn from the sport and how you can relate it to other things in their lives. Like being a good friend and being a good team mate.

How do you train for competition?

We practice a lot. During UAAP, we get one day off a week if we’re lucky. So if we have one game that week, we’ll try practicing five times a week. So we’ll have weights from 4:30 to 6, then practice from 6 to 8:30 so we’re in the gym for almost five hours a day. So the practice is long and it takes a toll on your body every day.

Any special diet?

I love a lot of junk food so it’s not really a special diet, it’s more of just trying to live a lifestyle without giving in to cravings and potato chips with salsa or french onion dip. Or when my sisters make cookies or brownies, you now maybe limit myself to one when I could eat five or six. Also, I try to eat several meals throughout the day instead of having two or three huge meals a day. I try to make sure I’m getting a good balance of different kinds of food, eating four or five smaller meals than really over-consuming at one meal. With all the activities that I do, it’s really important to get the nutrients and the protein and everything that I need. You know, preparing baon, but then also eating somewhere in school and eating right after practice and eating properly.

In terms of the usual sports prescriptions of proper nutrition, exercise, hydration, and enough sleep, which is hardest for you to comply with? How do you cheat? How do you compensate?

I get enough sleep, that’s not a problem for me. I finish early, I get my stuff done early. I stay organized, that way I can get at least eight hours of sleep and food is something that hasn’t always been the biggest problem. Sometimes, it’s hard to wake up early and get a good breakfast. Sometimes, I just wanna wake up as late as I can and go straight to class without spending time getting a proper breakfast. But the thing I’ve had the hardest time with over the years is staying hydrated. When our trainers do hydration tests, I’m normally one of the most dehydrated players on my team. So I’ve been able to drink a lot more Gatorade. Gatorade helps me a lot. I always make sure I keep a couple in the fridge for myself. After I finish the Gatorade, I fill it up with water and leave it cold in the refrigerator. That way, it’s just easier for me in the morning to grab them as I’m going out and keep a couple of bottles in my backpack like I have now. Just with water or Gatorade. So it’s a constant reminder that it’s there and I’m drinking it throughout the day. So my backpack’s always a little bit heavier in the morning and I have that reminder that it’s heavy ’cause I’ve got my Gatorade in there and it reminds me that I need to be drinking.

Finally, fans believe you hired a stylist considering your change of look every UAAP season. Any particular reason for the change, especially in hair color?

My older sister Josie, who has been my biggest fan throughout my whole career, even back in high school, is now a cosmetologist. As a kid growing up, my brother and I, just for fun, dyed our hair black, dyed our hair blonde or shaved it all off with razors just to be unique and just to have fun with our hair and try new things. So I think as my sister became a cosmetologist, I enjoyed letting her try her different colors or her different styles on me.  I’ve never hired anyone, she does it for free, that’s the best part. She has all the equipment, all the dyes to do it. I still enjoy just doing it for fun, putting on a different look. These days of the UAAP and me playing games on TV or being in the spotlight with the team that I’m on won’t last for very long and I think someday it would just be fun memories to look back on, all the looks I was able to have while I was in UAAP.

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Thank you to Kevin C. Tatco of Fabilioh.com for all the photos.

Post me a note at mylene@goldsgym.com.ph or mylenedayrit@gmail.com.