First Pinoy ‘export’ to Japan

While the rest of the country spent its Holy Week out of town, one accidental tourist left Holy Tuesday for a new life as a basketball import in Japan. And he’s only sixteen years old.

Alvin Joseph Villanueva — Maui to his friends — lived to play hoops. Two years ago, the starting center for University of the Philippines Integrated School (UPIS) was named outstanding center of the UAAP junior tournament. Three of his brothers play for University of Santo Tomas, UPIS and Claret, respectively. But he never dreamed two weeks ago that he would become the first Filipino to be given a basketball scholarship to the Land of the Rising Sun, home of thousands of Filipino overseas contract workers and entertainers. And it all started with a rendezvous at Reyes Gym in Mandaluyong.

"I was just supposed to meet a friend there," Villanueva recounted to The Star. "They were holding some tryouts. Then I saw coach Beaujing (Acot, skills coach for the RP Cebuana Lhuillier team, who was conducting the tryouts with retired PBA center Eric Reyes). He asked me to come back the next day to try out."

As it turned out, the try-outs were for Higashiyama High School, a 136-year old preparatory school in Kyoto. The school is known not only for its lofty academic standards, but also for its excellence in sports. Unfortunately, basketball has been its weakness of late. But rules regarding foreign-born student athletes were at last relaxed by the high school education board, so Higashiyama and its basketball coach Yukinobu Tanaka started looking for foreign students to bring them an elusive championship in the sport. Having recruited a 6’5" Chinese center, they had heard about Filipinos’ fanatical passion about the sport, so they conducted extensive try-outs in Metro Manila.

"There were three players we were choosing from," explains Acot, who tried to recruit the then-grade 6 Villanueva five years ago for his own Benedictine International School Tiger Sharks. "One was from UE, one from Letran, and Maui. When I was given the chance to decide who to get, I went with Maui, because I know he can make it big. In terms of attitude, discipline, skills, he was really the best choice."

Suddenly, the lean, 6’4" teen found himself in the middle of a whirlwind, because the Japanese coaches were so impressed, they called up his parents immediately after the try-outs that Sunday two weeks ago.

"He tried out at 12:30. By 1:30, the Japanese coach was calling us on the phone to meet with us," remembers Maui’s mother, Corinne. "It was so fast. It seems the coach was leaving for Japan the following day, Monday, so they needed to meet with us to get our commitment. It didn’t have time to sink in."

That same evening, the coaches met with Maui’s parents, Jeorge and Corinne, introduced them to the school, and gave the confirmation letter. Higashiyama High School will pay for Villanueva’s three years of study (worth roughly 240,000 yen per year), textbooks, examination fees, housing, transportation and food, as well as all his training expenses and uniforms. They’ll even give him a bicycle to get around campus, and recommend him to a university in Japan, should he choose to stay on. Although he has technically finished high school here, Maui is still only 16. When he returns, he will be a developed, experienced 19-year old, fully ready for battle in the UAAP senior tournament.

"We told him this was the Lord’s blessing for him," says Maui’s father, Jeorge. "Perform well, be on time. Those were some of the things we told him. I want to be happy, but I’m also sad because he’ll be away from us for three years."

"We remind him of the things he shouldn’t forget," adds his mother. "Like praying, working hard, so he can prove that he’s deserving. And we made the most of the limited time with him."

The mixed emotions were a pervasive atmosphere at an impromptu farewell party for Maui at the penthouse of a residential building in Quezon City. The suddenness with which everything fell into place made it difficult for everyone to grasp the impact of what had just fallen into the young athlete’s lap. Though he had images of temples, exotic scenery and learning a new language dancing in his head, Maui was also caught up in last-minute shopping and goodbyes, and only realized the enormity of his responsibility right before he left. If this experiment succeeds, Higashiyama will also look for high school talent in other sports here, as well.

"This is an opportunity for me to improve the talents that I have," says a nervous Villanueva. "Of course, I’ll miss my family and friends, because nobody’s going with me. I’ll probably be homesick for the first three weeks. But I’ll get used to it. There’s also a lot of pressure on me, being the first Filipino to be sent there to play. The reason I was chosen was because I do my best. So I’m thinking that everything I do has to be right. I have to do everything so that our team wins a championship."