Limits

Saturday last week, the Philippines salvaged some honor at the fourth edition of the Southeast Asia Basketball Association junior men’s tournament in Lucena, Quezon. The RP-Burlington Youth team crushed impetuous Singapore 99-53, after building leads of more than forty in the second half at the fabulous Quezon Convention Center, with Gov. Willie Enverga in attendance.

This writer was fortunate to have covered the final game with Noel Zarate and Vic Ycasiano through producer TeamSports, which barely covered its costs in its commitment to supporting the national team.

It was a bittersweet triumph for coach Johnny Tam, assistant coach Ching Marcelino, co-captains Mike Baldos and Kevin Astorga and the BAP. Two years ago, they had prepared long and hard for a clear shot at victory, only to have it taken away at the last minute.

As early as December of 2001, Baldos, now a student at the Ateneo de Manila University and Astorga who took a leave from International School to travel to Lucena, started their early morning practices. The players had to be at Rizal Memorial before five a.m. to be able to get in two hours of practice before their school started. The team was talented and tall, with half of its members standing at least 6-5. The tournament itself, slated for June of 2002, would be the easy part.

Then, with only weeks to go before the start of the games, the organizers in Malaysia sent out word that the event would be played in July, instead. But all our big men were incoming rookies in the NCAA tournament, and would no longer be available. Literally half the team was lost.

In Kuala Lumpur, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia roughed up our patchwork team before we got past Singapore, finishing second to last. Ironically, 2002’s doormats will now represent Southeast Asian in the ABC junior tournament in India this July.

This year, despite having a smaller team, Tam’s boys were overwhelming, opening the tournament with a 40-point demolition of Malaysia. Families of the players took to the road to join in the culmination of all their sacrifice.

Now the question remains: what next? We dominate Southeast Asian like a typhoon. How do we move on to the next level? Will we still have selfless sponsors like Burlington, who sponsor teams of unknowns in the name of national pride?

Now is the time to start building. Now is the time to put together a team of full-time players, and get all the sport’s stakeholders to work together.

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Speaking of breaking limits the Center for Sports Communication will hold its sixth Basic Sportscasting Seminar from May 3 to 5 at the third floor of the Parc Chateau Condominium along Onyx Road in Pasig. The seminar has become an institution of sorts, and is the only independent training ground for sports broadcasters in the country. First organized in 2001 by the Center for Sports Communication (CSC), the seminar graduated three classes in 2003. The CSC was founded by veteran radio commentators Mon Liboro, Benjie Santiago, Barry Pascua and Noel Zarate, who wanted to structure and pass on the various learnings they had picked up in their diverse careers.

"We’ve been very grateful to those who have helped us along the way," Zarate, also an award-winning composer, explains. "Unlike in other industries, the veterans in sporscasting always want to teach the next generation. So we decided that an experiential classroom setting was the best way to pass on our experience and ensure that it would be absorbed by the students."

PBA Commissioner Noli Eala, himself a former well-respected sportscaster recounts, "Had there ever been a course like this offered in my time, it would have cut years off my climb (to be a successful sportscaster)."

Subject matter includes voice and tone color (conducted by Santiago), sports writing (handled by Pascua), sports aptitude and listening (by Zarate), and other matters, from directing sports for television to doing stand-uppers and how to conduct research. Instructors have included a veritable Who’s Who of sports journalism and broadcasting, including The Star columnists Quinito Henson and yours truly, Sev Sarmenta and Anthony Suntay.

Of the 132 graduates, many have already found solid work in the industry. Boyet Sison is executive producer for the PBA’s radio broadcasts. Neth Ngo is associate producer of The Basketball Show. Courtside reporters Jam Alindogan (UAAP), Anne Yusuico (NCAA) and several new television and radio panelists have been through the seminar, as well. CSC is carefully studying new modules and systems to be included in its first Intermediate Sportscasting Seminar tentatively slated towards the end of the year after the upcoming 2004 Athens Olympics.

Those interested may contact 683-0840 or 0917-8156635. Who knows where it could take you?

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Catch this week’s episode of The Basketball Show on ABC 5 at 3 p.m.