Outside looking in

(Editor’s Note: Starting today sportsman Tommy Manotoc will write a sports column which will come out in The STAR every Wednesday. Manotoc, 56, was a member of several RP golf teams that won numerous Putra Cup and other international tournaments. He was also the coach of the fabled Crispa Redmanizers that completed the PBA’s second Grand Slam in 1983.)

Ever since I can remember, sports has always been a major part and passion of my life, probably due to the fact that I was born into a very sports-oriented family.

Sports became a medium that we all somehow unconsciously shared and which later developed into a passion for my parents, my siblings and me.

Sports actually helped us bond as a family.

One of the most vivid and wonderful memories I have as a young boy is learning the game of golf with Mom and Dad at the old Wack Wack Golf Club.

Learning tennis, was also a fun.

Being the youngest of three boys, I found myself playing under my father’s armpit across the net against my older brothers, who were more athletic than I was.

To even out our matches, special rules had to be made for me so that my father and I would stand a chance at giving my brothers a challenge close to being decent.

Moments such as these were often replayed down to the last detail when I had children of my own years later. Again, it was through the same medium—sports—that I found myself bonding with my children and them, with each other.

The last day of school then would mean packing our bags full of sports equipment before the yearly trek to Baguio. Dad would be at the wheel and all of us, Brownie the family dog included, would spend the entire summer together. We played golf, tennis, table tennis, badminton, softball, horseback-riding and bowling until classes resumed.

I don’t think I missed a single fight of Gabriel "Flash" Elorde at the Araneta Coliseum. I was always with my father to watch most boxing matches on Saturday nights.

We also spent a good deal of our free time at the Rizal Memorial Complex, watching and analyzing tennis, baseball, football and basketball games. If not with my Dad, I would be with my friends doing the same, acting as though we were the analysts and commentators.

As a teen-ager, I distinctly recall both my parents watching me play, felt their love and support when I played golf, basketball, volleyball and softball, first for my school and later on as a golfer for the Philippine team.

They were also present at the basketball games my older brother Billy played in, from the collegiate level all the way to the Asian Games.

Having coached different teams in the Philippine Basketball Association, I learned how to deal with players from all walks of life, each having a different attitude, a different ego. What it was that made one tick and what button I had to push to empower one to play to the best of his abilities always differed from one player to the next.

When I served as the league’s Deputy Commissioner I had the wonderful opportunity to deal with owners and team managers of the different teams in helping build the league.

These are just some of the experiences, which helped me strengthen my understanding of human nature.

All in all, I can honestly say that it was through the numerous and varied sports that I have learned, played, watched, and competed in — from my early years to adulthood — that I learned my most important and valuable lessons in life.

It is through this corner that I wish, in some way, to try and give something back to sports, while at the same time share with you what it has given me.

Although sports’ present situation in general has not been spared the ills that most developing societies find itself having to face and deal with, I gather from experience that it is still a wonderful and organic way of imparting to others the essential values such as human decency, sportsmanship, discipline, preparation, competition, self-motivation, playing for the love of the game, consideration, national pride and honesty.

If conducted and led in the right way, sports can be used as a very effective and fun tool to learn these values as a child from first hand experience.

For adults, it can serve as a practical medium to bring forth and mirror to all of us what it is that is actually moving us and shaping our society.

What may be written in this space may not always be agreeable or palatable to some people. My hope, nevertheless, is that as I discuss the present situation of sports in the country as I see it, I could bring forth ideas and constructive suggestions based on my experience as a sportsman.