QUO VADIS

QUO VADIS?

Winning a title in the leading and prestigious collegiate athletic league like the NCAA or UAAP is a result of a synergistic effort. Progressive and dynamic minded administrators in the academe do not merely treat conduct of an athletic program as compliance to the edict, “A healthy mind needs a healthy body.” Neither is participation in tournaments a moral justification to lawfully disburse athletic fees collected from students.

Sustained competitive success in sports can develop into a tradition geared toward institutional excellence. An athletic achievement can function as a visible and concrete translation of an institution’s distinct values analogous - by way of illustration - to how premium consumer brands symbolize corporate company’s passions and visions. Championships may enhance value of an institution's identity. Prestige is augmented to the brand. Runner up finishes and the others tailing in the order, on the other hand, fade into the depths of oblivion. History remembers the victors.

The secret formula is really an open book. Recruitment from the secondary schools ranks is one of many strategies. Palarong Pambansa basketball MVP Rene Baterbonia from Davao, is an example. Transferees from other universities, like Dave Ildefonso, formerly of National University, were added after complying with a residency requirement.  Also, foreigners like Nigerian Divine Adili, were allowed to play under a controlled inclusion model uniformly implemented among the UAAP member schools.

Of many, Ateneo and La Salle, from its NCAA years are notably the most aggressive recruiters. Their championships speak for themselves. Before moving to the UAAP in 1978, ADMU won 14 basketball NCAA titles. DLSU had 5. Bringing their rivalry in the UAAP, the Katipunan based Blue Eagles have won 12. The Green Archers, 11 already. Two of the top tertiary institutions of the Philippines, not founding members of the UAAP, have won more basketball titles than the original UAAP member universities.

Of Ateneo’s 12 collegiate basketball titles up to the present time, four were earned under the guidance of coach Tab Baldwin, the presently beleaguered coach because of the tragic deaths of their athletes in a team building event in Aurora. Some imputed malice to the incident. I do not subscribe to that view. Some do not understand the challenges and difficulty of recruiting and developing players; and charting a program worthy of the support of stakeholders.

This is not in defense of coach Tab Baldwin. Or to extol him amidst the deaths of Baterbonia and Adili. A person’s death in the hands of another, present or sans malice, deserves some serious accountability. Yet, when one coaches, the coach must have the required mindset to exercise the diligence of a good father of the children of the family. Players, not sanguineally related, become your own children. Would you as a coach put your own flesh and blood in same training regimen?

But on certain days, a coach assumes another persona. He ceases to be Mr. Cool Dad but becomes a drill sergeant in a boot camp. Players become like soldiers being prepared physically, emotionally and mentally, for the day of war. Approaches and strategies of each bench tactician vary but a coach’s basket of good intentions cannot be doubted. When the best intentions are met with tragedy as in this case, the words are inadequate to describe the intensity of the losses.

I sympathize. Two talented persons died too soon. Their dreams of a better life with their God given talent and skills under the supervision of an excellent institutional sports program were denied by the treacherous waters of the Dipaculao sea shore. I condole with their parents and loved ones. They are irreplaceable. But still, they, like all of us are mortals. We accept the belief that when our number is called, not all can drop the phone and put death for another day. As for Ateneo basketball? The good university should take leave for at least one season.