The six-week program to teach the basics of basketball to young indigent children started last Saturday with high hopes that it will create young athletes who not only play good game but also have the discipline to play fairly and not hurt their opponents.
“You should be here by 7:30 AM so we can start exactly by 8 AM,” program director Djalma Arnedo told the 20 players age 7-16 as he closed the first day of training last Saturday at the Lourdes Ext. covered court.
Arnedo joined the program as its program directorv free of professional fee to help improve quality of games here. The University of Baguio alumnus prepared a six module program which started with ball handling, shooting and foot works with help from local coaches and even players.
It is a two hour and a half hour program that starts at 8 and ends at 10:30. “It is like going to school. You wake up early so you will be in school at least 30 minutes before the class starts. It is just discipline. They have to be punctual,” said the former assistant to coach Chot Reyes in the Philippine basketball team.
Arnedo has assembled a coaching staff of four former players and also has stints as coach or referee.
First is Jojo Estebar, former power forward of the University of Baguio Cardinals, who won the 1983 National UAAP title against the Far Eastern University. The Philippine Military Academy instructor has earned a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree, the only Cardinal to have accomplished such.
Antonio Antonio is a former teammate of Estebar and member of the 1983 Cardinals that went on to join FEU. He is also a former coach of the University of the Cordilleras. He was in charge of last Saturday’s ball handling activities.
Boyet Lucero is a former Saint Louis University basketball player who moved to the former Baguio College Foundation (now UC) and was in charge of shooting exercises.
Anthony Fernandez, who handled footworks, is with the PMA who has also earned a PhD. He was the Baguio-Benguet Educational Athletic League tournament director last season with Estebar as his manager.
The four practically has waived fees to help in the conduct of the clinics.
It was former Baguio Correspondents and Broadcasters Club president Dhobie de Guzman who reined in Arnedo through a common friend.
“I really do not know Mr. Arnedo but I know his reputation as a coach,” said the ABS-CBN anchorman, who first talked to Bart Empleo, who is a referee for the BBEAL and a member of de Guzman clinic team.
“We need a team that will spearhead our brand of basketball, our attention to grassroots especially the indigents who cannot afford the costly basketball clinics provided by popular brands,” said de Guzman who was first a sports writer before joining television media.
A confessed basketball fan, the Lauac, Pangasinan native who used to walk three kilometers to be able to watch TV and now a Northern Luzon TV personality, said there are plans to continue with the project including a tournament among barangays.
“For now, we have six weeks of teaching the kids,” said De Guzman of the Play and Serve program which he spearheads with help from hotelier Peter Ng.
De Guzman, who worked his way to college as a student assistant, a fastfood crew and other odd jobs, says that it is his paying back to the community that he now calls home with his family of two boys.
The only fee, he said, is them to play a tree each within their barangay. “They can have the free clinic and even free shirt, my boys included,” said de Guzman, who included Dhobie, Jr. and Dalton in the program.
“This is to continue their trainings in basketball as well as enroll them in other sports activities that will take them away from video games,” said the TV personality.
“And they will be under a great mentor,” he added.
The Play and Serve basketball clinic by the Supreme Dribblers is a weekly program at the Lourdes Ext. covered court from 8 to 10:30 AM. It will run until Dec. 2 where the kids will also have a mini tournament and the children the best exemplify the clinic’s vision will be given an award.** PML
