Great plays lead to winning games. As the wins pile up, championships are won and athletes become immortalized for their feats. The glitz and glamor of the sporting world will forever attract the youth from all corners of the globe to pick up a ball or slip on a pair of rubber shoes with hopes of being the next great thing. What everyone often overlooks though is that everything is earned through blood, sweat and tears in training.
The university athletes in the UAAP are no different and the young men and women of DLSU put in hours of hard work with a common goal of bringing glory to the Green-and-White. Whether they train with their respective varsity teams or the national team, they give their 110 percent, and La Salle has reaped the fruits of their labor with its first General Championship this year.
All of the varsity teams in DLSU have contributed points that gave DLSU the UAAP crown. Amongst those in the various squads of Green-and-White are exceptional players who have represented or are still representing the country in competitions in their respective sports. These few experience rigid training within and outside the facilities of La Salle.
Balancing two sides of a coin
The players who are in the national team and the La Salle varsity have to manage their time when it comes to training in their separate squads. Acquiring a certain equilibrium for two important sides of a coin is a difficult task these particular athletes have to face.
Green Booters rookie and Philippine team player since 2009 Charleston Uy commented, “Currently, we’re only allowed to play for the national team when we have available time. For us, on training, when it’s the season like UAAP, we can’t train with the Philippine team. We have to train for DLSU because we take priority for our school instead of the national team because our competitions still far.”
Working around the UAAP season, the select national team participants undergo different training regimens from diverse coaches with varying styles. They are tasked with the challenge to handle divergent playing conditions for the s country and alma mater.
The crossroads in time
Uy explained, “For DLSU, of course, we actually train more. In UAAP, it’s different from the national team. In the national team, it’s a selection of players from different parts of the Philippines.”
Despite the weight of representing the nation, student athletes from DLSU still exert effort in training with the varsity as much as possible. This is because the national team expects players to bring specific skill sets that make them worthy to join.
“Generally when you’re part of the national team, you’re already skilled for that and the only thing that you need is teamwork because you’re from all these different schools and you aren’t together always so the only thing that you need is to work on communication,” added the rookie striker of the Green Booters.
With the cohesion of the members being the only seeming dilemma in the national team, these players work on their own to improve themselves.
Learning from the Archers
As individuals, these players are in charge of their personal growth. Given opportunities to play for both the Philippine team and a prestigious collegiate team is something that does not come by without perseverance and cost.
The national team athletes of their specific sports learn what they can while wearing their Green-and-Whites. Each hones his or her abilities and pushes his or her limits to bring something new to the plate for the Philippine team and DLSU.
Uy remarked, “At De La Salle training, we improve with our endurance and our strength and of course, also our communication with each other. For Coach Hans Smit, it’s also important that our attitude isn’t bad, especially with each other. We have to learn to be connected with each other and not have any quarrels or fights.”
Taking what they can get from the matches and training they receive, the athletes of the national team proved their worth as they aided in the culmination of winning the General Championship in this prolific UAAP Season 75.
One reply on “Commentary Country and Alma Mater: A balance of dedication”
Kudos TLS for giving us a good view about Lasallian athletes that are part of our NTs. However, scope could have been wider if more athletes were involved in this interview article. Of course, I understand time contraints. Nonetheless, I hope you can deepen this story, especially in your subsections of Athlete Revisited and/or Green Gallery. 🙂 Good job!