'Golden' highlights Xavier School’s emergence in Philippine sports

MANILA, Philippines – Isaac Go and Tyler Tio, now playing for the Ateneo Blue Eagles, gave a very good account of themselves during the recently concluded William Jones Cup in Taiwan, where their team finished fourth place in the nine-team field that also included national teams.

Go and Tio are some of the latest in a long line of Xavier Golden Stallions who have not only become fixtures but also stars in different sports. In the realm of professional basketball, you have Chris Tiu, Jeric and Jeron Teng, Joseph Yeo, Jet Manuel and Gab Banal to name but a few who are all currently playing professionally. Some like Axel Ngui have swum to national records and acclaim in swimming. Others like Roland So have netted renown as a member of the Philippine Davis Cup team in tennis. Kennevic Asuncion has shuttled in the country and internationally as a top badminton player. Others such as TY Tang, Charles Tiu, and Carlo Tan are making names for themselves as basketball coaches.

And the list goes as Xavier School has sent its sons to NCAA and UAAP teams as far back as the 1960s.

With such a long and illustrious history, the Alumni Association of Xavier School is proud to announce the production of the coffee table book, “Golden: A Celebration of the Xavier Golden Stallions” in conjunction with Xavier School.

“I think it is incredible that for such a small school, we are able to produce a lot of high impact student-athletes,” noted Jeron Teng, who as a Golden Stallion once scored 104 points in the Tiong Lian Basketball League. “And we do not recruit.”

Added Go, who played for Xavier for nine years before starring for the Ateneo Blue Eagles in college: “The book is a good thing to have for the school so the generation today and tomorrow will know their history and be inspired by those who paved the way.”

This writer has been commissioned to write this legacy tome.

The book briefly touches on the history of Xavier School, but quickly dives into the action. It tells of its early success in the Chinese Basketball League that was the precursor to the Tiong Lian Basketball League as well as the PAYA (Philippine Athletic Youth Association) and RIFA (Rizal Football Association) among others that were considered as the main leagues where Xavier student-athletes competed. It also tells the story behind such men as Fr. Rafael Cortina S.J. and former coach Maximo Cinco, who were later aided by coaches like Joe Lipa who helped put up the Xavier Basketball Academy.

The 250-page book will be out by early next year.