Everything’s coming up Roses

Dan Rose is an American strength and conditioning coach who’s so much in demand that he works for two Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) teams and they don’t mind.

In fact, he now finds himself in the middle of a war as his teams–Air 21 and Talk ‘N’ Text–are locked in a bitter best-of-five quarterfinals series in the San Mig Coffee Fiesta Conference.

Rose, 44, sits on the Express bench because he started working for Air 21 long before the Phone Pals signed him up as a consultant a few months ago. Rose describes Air 21 as "my mother team."

It was Derick Pumaren who initially tapped Rose for a job here in 1999 with Purefoods. Then, Pumaren’s brother Franz brought him to La Salle to work with the Green Archers. When Pumaren went to FedEx, Rose followed and when Pumaren left FedEx, Rose did, too–until the players asked him to return with coach Bong Ramos at the helm.

Pumaren and Ramos are now Talk ‘N’ Text assistant coaches and it’s no wonder Rose is also spending time with the Phone Pals. They obviously liked what Rose did at FedEx.

Sometimes, Rose sets aside a few hours a week to train individual players on a time basis. He’s worked with cagers like Ali Peek, John Arigo, Danny Ildefonso, Don Allado and Rob Wainwright. At the moment, he’s preparing former MVP Vergel Meneses for a possible comeback.

"Vergel can still play," says the 6-1, 210-pound Rose. "He’s in better shape today than he was 10 years ago. He asked me to help him get back in shape and we’re working together."

Curiously, Rose has no degree in physical education and never took up formal classes in strength training. He took up Administration of Justice at Virginia State University and his campus dream was to become a youth counselor.

"I took up physical education courses but never got a degree because I didn’t like the stigma of a jock," explains Rose.

After graduation, Rose went to Mexico and the Philippines in 1986 to organize outreach programs for the youth through the Better World Foundation. While in the Philippines, he met, fell in love with and married a pretty Bulakena, Maria Lopez. Rose then brought his wife to Thailand where he worked as an English teacher and volunteer youth counselor. One by one, as the years went by, the kids kept coming and today, the Roses have five children–the oldest is 18 and the youngest, eight, all taking up home studies with correspondent schools.

From Thailand, Rose returned to the US and started doing professional work as a personal trainer. He worked out of the 24-Hour Fitness Gym in Vallejo, California, where his clients included martial arts practitioners, professional boxers, basketball players, tracksters and even an ice skater.

Before long, Rose was back on the road, this time to Capetown, South Africa, to put up a sports program for a youth center, a safe house for battered kids.

In 1999, Rose was in Manila with his family for a visit and an American friend introduced him to Pumaren. One thing led to another and Rose, his wife and their children have now lived here the last six years.

In working to get in shape, Rose says the first requisite is to be willing to do what it takes to be fit.

"If you’re an athlete, you’ve got to be willing to look a things differently," notes Rose. "Old habits hinder your progress. Look at Shawn Daniels (Air 21’s import). When he came in, I asked him if he was willing to work hard because if he was, great things could happen in his career. He made a commitment to work as hard as he could in the gym. He’s now lost about 30 pounds. You underestimate him because he looks overweight but he’s moving so well and he’s quick for his size. Same thing with Ranidel (de Ocampo). He’s gotten better because he’s always willing to work hard."

Rose says he wasn’t worried that Air 21 would run out of steam after playing three consecutive games from Friday to Saturday to last Sunday.

"They’d rather play than report for practice every day," says Rose. ’They’re in shape. When we lost Game 1 last Saturday, we had a big fourth quarter run which meant we weren’t tired. We lost because we were still celebrating our win over San Miguel."

Last Sunday, Air 21 evened their quarterfinal series at a win apiece by beating the Phone Pals–just as Rose predicted. The morning of the game, Rose said Air 21 was all pumped up to bounce back with a bang.

Tomorrow, Rose talks about the importance of balance and footwork in basketball and even in boxing, working out for that extra edge in his "cocked gun" philosophy and the Air 21 team.