B. J. devotes life to others

MANILA, Philippines - One of the country’s highly-recruited college basketball players never got to see action in the PBA despite being drafted in 2005 and today, heads a sports consultancy company that’s dedicated to improving lives as he shares the experience of metamorphosing from a celebrity superstar on the court to a Christian achiever off the court.

It seemed that B. J. Manalo was destined to be a PBA standout. In seven years of playing UAAP juniors and seniors basketball, he never missed the finals. Manalo won a juniors title for Ateneo with Enrico Villanueva and Wesley Gonzales in 1996 then three seniors crowns for La Salle with teammates Don Allado, Dino Aldeguer, Ren-Ren Ritualo, Mac-Mac Cardona, Joseph Yeo and Mike Cortez under Franz Pumaren in 1999, 2000 and 2001.

But fate veered Manalo away from the game after he suffered multiple injuries in his right knee in 2003. He tore his meniscus, ACL and MCL and also had a fracture. For eight months, the Moro Lorenzo rehab facility was his second home as he underwent therapy from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. He worked out with skills coach Kirk Collier for several more months before returning to play for Lee Pipes in the PBL and joining the Cebuana Lhuillier national team under coach Dong Vergeire. Manalo would’ve suited up for the national team with Nino Canaleta, Ryan Reyes and Kelly Williams at the 2005 Southeast Asian Games but the rift between the SBP and BAP led to the country’s suspension from international competition.

In 2005, Manalo was picked on the second round by Purefoods in the PBA draft, ahead of Larry Fonacier, Paolo Bugia and Mark Macapagal all of whom are still playing in the pros. He practiced with coach Ryan Gregorio’s squad for three months despite recurring pain in his gimpy knee. But in the end, he decided God had plans other than basketball for him. Manalo, realizing his knee would never be the same, ended his PBA career before it even began.

“It was in 2003 when my eyes were opened to the Lord,” he said. “It was a reawakening. I went from a star player to a head cheerleader on the bench. In my three years with the Ateneo juniors, we went to three finals, winning the title once. And in four years with La Salle, we went to four finals, winning three titles. I never played a full season with La Salle except in my rookie year. I had an operation on my shin and my worst injury was in the right knee. When I was playing, I felt I was on top of the world. I was a TV host on ‘Masayang Tanghali Bayan’ and my face was in billboards on EDSA endorsing products like Chris Tiu today. My agents Edgar Tan and Dondon Monteverde had big plans. They were also agents for James Yap and Arwind Santos. When I couldn’t play anymore, I was humbled.”

Manalo, a La Salle marketing management graduate, said the ups and downs in his life inspired him to serve others. “I went through a lot in my sports career,” he said. “I spent 12 years of my life at Ateneo but I decided to enroll at La Salle for college. I was accused of selling out and branded a traitor by Ateneo. It hurt. I used to drive in my tinted car around the Ateneo campus near where I live because I missed the school but didn’t want to be seen by those who hated me for joining La Salle. When I transferred, La Salle was the defending UAAP champion and Ateneo was seventh or eighth in the standings. In my mind, all I wanted to be was a basketball player. La Salle had the better basketball program at the time. If basketball wasn’t my priority, I would’ve definitely stayed at Ateneo. I also had a bitter experience at Ateneo in my senior high school year so it was also a factor that led me to move to La Salle. It was God’s will and if I didn’t move to La Salle, I wouldn’t have met my wife Diane (Quisumbing) who was La Salle’s football varsity skipper. Today, I owe what I am to my parents, my family, Ateneo and La Salle. I see Larry, Mac-Mac, Ren-Ren, Don, Joseph, Mike, Enrico and Wesley playing in the PBA but I have no regrets. I chose not to play in the PBA because of my condition and I will still choose that path if I lived my life over again.” 

Manalo, 30, said with his long years of experience in sports, he has a lot to share with others. “Athletes and coaches are people and once they lose one aspect of their lives, everything is affected like if I hurt the pinkie in my shooting hand trying to steal the ball away from an opponent, it will affect my passing, my shooting, my whole game,” he said. “I’ve seen famous athletes not able to cope with life after they retire. They collect trophies when they’re in sports but in the real world, they aren’t champions. They lose their self-respect because they’re not ready to live a life without sports, they’re not prepared to cope after losing one aspect of their lives.”

Manalo formed a company called More Than Winning Sports Consultancy five years ago because “I believe there is more to life than just winning.” He uses sports as a medium to improve people’s lives. His outfit is involved in elite athletes training, sports marketing, sports events, sports management and corporate training “with more than winning in mind.” Some of Manalo’s clients are Petron in the PBA, ANI-FCA in the PBA D-League, Adamson University seniors, NU pep squad, NU Lady Bulldogs, SBP (marketing for the FIBA-Asia Champions Cup) and UST seniors. Additionally, Manalo was Addmix team manager in the PBL and assistant coach under Olsen Racela with the national under-16 team that took fourth place recently in the FIBA-Asia tournament in Vietnam.      

“God showed me the way,” said Manalo, happily married with two children, Kailin, 5, and Ava, 3, and one on the way. “I found my calling. I don’t think I’ll ever be a head coach. I see myself more as a team manager, someone who can make a difference in the players’ lives. Sports is a universal language. It provides jobs, entertainment. There is no rich and no poor in sports. My mission is to instill the values of hard work, discipline and teamwork and enhancing relationships in the Christian way. My life now is how God meant it to be.”