New calling for Jolas

PBA legend Jojo Lastimosa is too busy to even think of someday becoming a head coach. But who knows? It seems that teaching is Lastimosa’s calling – he’s enjoying his role as prime mover of the Alaska Power Camp and the Cagayan de Oro summer league and a chief instructor of the ongoing Jr. NBA-Alaska program. And let’s not forget, he’s an assistant coach with the Alaska PBA squad.

The word is Lastimosa has been approached by at least two teams to consider a head coaching job. Asked if it’s true, he just smiled.

“Honestly, my plate is full,” said the 47-year-old Lastimosa who played in the PBA from 1988 to 2003. “I’d like to still spend quality time with my family.”

A born-again Christian with a firm commitment to live God’s way, Lastimosa is a devoted family man. He and wife Butchik are proud parents of three daughters – CD, 22, now a pre-school teacher, Kit-Kat, 18, an Ateneo sophomore, and Annika or Boodie, 14, a third year high school student.

Since embracing Christ in 1986, Lastimosa has been a dedicated follower of the Faith. Now that he’s retired from active playing, a primary mission is to reach out to the youth.

“All I want to do is teach and coaching is a part of teaching,” said Lastimosa. “Basketball camps are a way of promoting the game to children. That’s how I fell in love with the game. I think the competition to playing sports is the internet and computer games. For a child to develop, you must go out of the house. You can’t be on a couch all day. Do outdoor games. I want to reintroduce kids to the fun of playing sports, to do physical activity and get fit. It’s up to the kids to choose what they want to do but I’m encouraging them to step out of the house and get into sports.”

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Lastimosa said he’s in a perfect position to learn coaching from his two mentors – Alaska head coach Tim Cone and assistant coach Joel Banal. “They’re full of basketball wisdom,” he said.

What he has learned and continues to learn from Cone and Banal coupled with his own experience are the lessons he shares with his campers. This Saturday, Lastimosa opens the first module of the yearly Alaska Power Camp at the Ateneo courts. Two eight-day modules are scheduled. Each session extends to three hours and Lastimosa himself supervises the teaching. To make sure every camper is given close attention, he sets a ratio of 10 to 15 players to a coach. Lastimosa brings along several coaches to assist in the camp.

Alaska has sponsored the Power Camp for close to 20 years but it was only when Lastimosa hung up his sneakers in 2003 that he took it over. The Power Camp is open to kids within the 5-20 age bracket.

Last Saturday, PBA veteran Topex Robinson opened the first Alaska Power Camp in Subic. And on Monday, former PBA guard Roel Gomez will start the third Alaska Power Camp in Cebu.

Tomorrow, Lastimosa will be at the Ynares Arena in Pasig to conduct a “bonus” Alaska Power Camp for kids in the 10-14 age group. The session begins at 9 a.m. The “bonus” camp will run for two consecutive days. The 10 most outstanding players in the two-day “bonus” camp will gain outright tickets to participate in the Jr. NBA-Alaska National Training Camp with 40 others on April 9-11. All the participants in the “bonus” camp will be invited to the first module of the Alaska Power Camp.

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Lastimosa will join former Los Angeles Lakers forward A. C. Green, NBA Asia director of basketball operations Jama Mahlalela and Jr. NBA coach Frank Lopez in the teaching staff at the National Training Camp. Venues for the culminating camp are the La Salle Green Hills gym for April 9 and 10 and the SM Mall of Asia Music Hall on April 11. The last day will feature scrimmages among the 50 players and the selection of the top 10 campers to make up the Jr. NBA-Alaska Philippines All-Star team that will represent the country in a international conclave in China or Korea. One of the 10 will be named the Jr. NBA-Alaska Ambassador for Sports. During the National Training Camp, the Jr. NBA-Alaska Coach of the Year will be named.

Lastimosa is also on top of the Cagayan de Oro annual summer league where 30 to 40 teams play in April and May. He played in the league before moving to Ateneo in Manila. After it was dormant for about 10 years, Lastimosa revived the summer circuit in 2004 as a way to give back to the game he loves. “The summer tournament is close to my heart,” said Lastimosa. “It’s my baby. I remember playing in the summer league growing up. I’m proud that it’s now a tradition and I’m grateful to Alaska for supporting it. It’s very gratifying that a lot of players like J. R. Cawaling, Papot Paredes and Carlo Lastimosa owe their careers to the summer league.”

Lastimosa said he finds the NBA style of teaching very effective. At the Jr. NBA-Alaska camps, he sounds almost like Mahlalela and Lopez in encouraging the kids to play harder, to play better. “It’s about sharing knowledge, attention to detail and emphasizing positive values,” he said. “At camp, we don’t scream. There are no negative vibes. We want to showcase the beauty of the game. It’s our way of promoting the game to children, a way for them to fall in love with basketball. In any language, basketball is the same anywhere in the world but the NBA has a different way of communicating to kids. It’s this special way that we are using to make the Jr. NBA-Alaska experience more meaningful.”

For information on the Alaska Power Camp, call C. K. Kanapi at Tel. No. 840-4500.

Postscript. The Azkals’ Fil-Spanish recruit Angel Guirado postponed his flight from Manila back to Spain to tomorrow. He was supposed to leave last Monday. “He decided to rest in Manila for a few days,” said Guirado’s aunt Gloria Garcia. “They tortured him in the game against Palestine in Myanmar. He’s still recuperating.”