"Living A Dream"

Life doesn't always turn out the way you want it to be. I first played basketball when i was 7 years old. I also made my first shot back then. I played my first official game at 11 years old. I won my first championship at 13 years old. I became MVP at 18 years old. My highest scoring game was 81 points and that was a championship game (Phase 6A Mini Olympics 97 4 on 4 Basketball Midgets Division) which we won. After everything i've been through in basketball, i wasn't able to achieve my dream to someday become a Professional Basketball Player and earn money by doing something i love to do and that is to play basketball with all my heart.

When i was still a kid, i've always dreamed of becoming a famous basketball player and having everything my heart desires. I always knew i was good but i never tried to play for my school. I never saw any opportunity to play, all i did was play streetball with older men which made me tough and made me strive to beat them. At school, i just played for fun until i tried out for the SMAA team, i was able to get in and Coach Raffy liked the way i played, he even recommended me to play for the DLSZ NCRAA team. At that time, my dreams of becoming a Professional Basketball Player were becoming clear. I tried out for the UAAP when I was in 3rd year high school, i did not get in but Coach Elmer knew then that i was good and he knew my name then. On my 4th year, i got in the UAAP team but at the last minute i got cut because there was someone who will sponsor our uniform, shoes and other basketball accessories for the team. Of course it was a good thing, but Coach Elmer needed to make room for the son of our sponsor which was my spot. After that, I never played for my school again. I tried a different path of sports, i joined the Chess Club together with my barkada just for fun, luckily for me i also had potential in that game and i became a varsity. I even won the MVP for that game and 3rd place for Milo Chess. I suddenly changed sports but my heart still belonged with basketball. I also tried playing billiards, betting with much older players with my bestfriend and earning money at the process. I placed 8th in a major billiards tournament in Paranaque and after then i became known in billiards.

I've reached college, and i still have the thought of playing for my school. At DLSU, i won 3rd place in a 3 point shoot out against UAAP players. My team won in a 3 on 3 tournament at school. I wanted to try out for the college team but i never had the guts because i lost my confidence in myself after my incident in my high school UAAP team. Until i transferred to Ateneo, i thought to myself of starting a new, but i already gave up my dream of ever playing for my school again. Until one day, my friend recruited me to represent Ateneo against other schools and be their starting point guard, i had great games then but they were never really my teammates because i didn't know them very well. I started making new friends in my school, and one of my friend recruited me to join their team in Intramurals Athletic Association of Ateneo. I made friends there and i had a team. Then the next year i built my own team known as Choopuppies, they were great teammates eventhough we didn't win until our 3rd season. We had 5 - 2 win loss record and we made it to the playoffs only to lose by 3 points. But that was my defining season in Ateneo, as i made it to the top 3 in the Mythical 5 category after the regular season.

So my life has gone thru alot. I've been to different fields by accident but still my heart belonged to basketball. And now i am still playing the game i love together with my career in Telecommunications. I've been blessed by God eventhough i did not reach my dream, i'm still living my dream by playing Star Point Guard for Ericsson Philippines. Earning money, doing my job and at the same time enjoying the game i love the most. And my team also won the Championship in the 1st ever Net Tournament. Now i am a known basketball player for Ericsson and a respected Point Guard by other companies. I may not have been a professional basketball star but God gave me a great job, wonderful family, intelligence, a basketball career and most importantly He gave me my inspiration 9 years ago and my future...