Volley star prepares for beauty pageant

MANILA, Philippines — It’s not a strange setting for volleyball star Michele Gumabao but preparing for the coming Miss Universe Philippines pageant is a more difficult challenge that she’s facing with mental toughness in this pandemic, thanks to her sports background.

Gumabao, 27, joined the Binibining Pilipinas competition in 2018 and won the right to represent the country in the Miss Globe contest where she finished in the top 15. She will represent Quezon City as one of 51 hopefuls in the Miss Universe Philippines event with the coronation set on Oct. 25. The final was originally scheduled at the Mall of Asia Arena last May 3 then it was postponed to June 24 before settling on a third date in a still undetermined venue. The Miss Universe pageant will be held sometime in January-March next year with the host country to be announced.

Gumabao played on three UAAP women’s indoor volleyball championship teams with La Salle and took Finals MVP honors in Season 75. Despite a year left of varsity eligibility, the consistent Dean’s Lister opted out of playing to focus on finishing the academic requirements for a Marketing Management degree. Without Gumabao, the Lady Spikers swept the eliminations in Season 76 only to fall to Ateneo in the finals. Looking back, Gumabao said she was sad that La Salle failed in its bid for a four-peat but never regretted her decision to move on.

“I knew the team could do so much more,” said Gumabao. “They were undefeated in the eliminations. Personally, I had my reasons for graduating. I wanted to start a career for myself outside of volleyball and I’m still proud of that decision ‘yun lang hindi mawawala ang lungkot because of my teammates. I wanted them to continue the legacy. It was a good experience for me with La Salle and those three years, I will never trade for anything. I was very happy, no regrets.”

In this pandemic, Gumabao said she’s been actively distributing relief goods and food to frontliners and the less fortunate. “We started during ECQ,” she said. “We’re fortunate to partner with bigger organizations and bigger foundations so we’re blessed that a lot of people are donating so marami rin kaming maibigay in return. As for training, we find ways to practice on-line. I see my (Creamline) teammates thrice a week (via zoom) and aside from that, I just take care of my own conditioning by working out at home. I’m lucky because my boyfriend (Aldo Panlilio) is a strength and conditioning coach so I have a free coach at home.”

Training for the Miss Universe Philippines entails a lot of discipline and hard work, said Gumabao. “When I joined Binibining Pilipinas in 2018, I had girls around me who were very supportive but I was on my own because you have to be independent and it’s not like you’re in a team,” she said. “You have to represent yourself first, your city and of course, hopefully, your country. For my personal training, I have my own team right behind me when it comes to make-up, hair, walking, answering questions. I’m part of a team called Aces and Queens. I’m grateful because I come from a sports background so sanay akong tinuturuan, pinagsasabihan, ginaguide at minementor so hindi bago sa akin kasi I like working with people. I enjoy working with mentor figures or somebody whom I follow and listen to na nakakatulong. I like to surround myself with positive people but the journey is very different now because of the pandemic. This is the first time Miss Universe Philippines will be a stand-alone pageant so it’s going to be bongga for sure. ‘Yun ang goal ng lahat is to represent the Philippines well.”

Gumabao said preparation is key to anything she undertakes. “When I started playing volleyball, I was sobrang awkward, actually until now but nag-improve ng kaunti,” she said. “Iba ang basics when it comes to volleyball. I’m not a natural-born athlete nor a natural-born volleyball player. That’s why preparation is very important for me. Kaya pag-training namin, grabe ang investment ko to do extra work. I always try to be the hardest worker. Doon ako humuhugot ng confidence so for me, the more na mahirap ang training, the more na nahihirapan ako kaya pag-dating sa game, hinding hindi ako nagpapatalo kasi I’ve been through a lot and I remember all those things, all the hardships kaya hindi ako papayag na those will be put to waste and hindi kami mag cha-champion.” It’s the same attitude that Gumabao brings to the Miss Universe Philippines platform.