Dawn Of a New Era: Jeno Panganiban looks to take LSSC to greater heights

For many years, the La Salle Sports Commission (LSSC) has served the DLSU community through the implementation of sports fests that cater to the students’ athletic interests.

Reserving venues, gathering potential teams, and fixing the tournament format are some of the tasks that keep the hands of the people at the LSSC full almost every season. Leading the way for the organization is the LSSC commissioner, the figure in charge of spearheading the aforementioned tasks.

The LaSallian got a chance to sit down and talk with the LSSC’s newest commissioner, Jeno Panganiban, who talked about his journey in the LSSC and laid out his plans for La Salle’s sports community in the upcoming La Salle Athletic League (LSAL) season.

Building on strong foundations

For the past two years, the LSSC was headed by Vic Sebastian, who ended his tenure as commissioner with numerous improvements as to how the LSAL is conducted. This serves as added pressure for Panganiban, who initially didn’t see himself being the successor to the leadership position.

“Unexpected talaga siya. I started out sa creatives, yung gumagawa ng poster tuwing may games this week or applications this week. Tapos nakilala ko si Vic, sinasama niya ako sa games tapos nagustuhan ko yung scene,” Panganiban mentions on his early beginnings.

“It’s a big responsibility for me, kasi maganda yung sinimulan ni Vic. May expectation na kailangan kong ituloy yung legacy niya. It’s always about kailangan kong mag-innovate ng ideas, tapos kailangan kong i-maintain yung good practices,” he adds.

Holding the position of vice president prior to his current job, Panganiban personally saw some of the improvements made by Sebastian during his time. One thing he really liked about last year was how they reached out externally to other organizations to help them with their tournaments. This was a large contrast to the LSSC’s old ways of keeping to themselves.

“Last year, nag-reach out na kami sa Archers Network para sa publications namin. Sa Titan, sa magazines, nag-reach out na kami and yun yung nagustuhan ko,” said the fourth-year student official.

New projects

Having learned a lot from his predecessors, Panganiban has formulated his own plans that he wants to implement during his tenure. His initial project was to restructure the commission in terms of organizational hierarchy to make things more systemized.

“First of all, yung plan ko is to reconstruct the commission. I won’t be called as the commissioner, magiging President na ako. Then I’ll have my commissioners. You have your basketball commissioner, your volleyball commissioner, and your football commissioner,” he says, adding that he also plans to recruit additional manpower to help lessen the workload on his staff.

In terms of philosophy, he wants to make the LSAL more player-centered, elaborating that above everything else, it’s the player’s satisfaction that must be prioritized over their own interests. Aside from that, Panganiban also wants a continuation of good external relations.

“Itutuloy ko yung external affairs namin. More exposure for the LSSC, more publicity for the players,” he explains.   

By next term, several sports and initiatives will be making their experimental debuts in the LSSC’s calendar of activities. There will be a 3×3 women’s basketball tournament by the first term of the next school year, a Frisbee tournament, and an all-star basketball game. A new twist for the LSAL competition is the addition of employee teams, which can make games even more competitive.

Before he ends his term, the current commissioner wants to implement a series of martial arts workshops. Being a practitioner, he saw that the fighting arts were a good avenue to relieve stress and provide many benefits that he wants to share with the students of DLSU.

Inspirations

Panganiban’s biggest drive in taking up the commissioner post is to ultimately serve those around him, particularly those that help make the LSAL as intense and as passionate as it is today.

“Well yung inspiration ko is yung feeling na makita ko na nag-eenjoy yung players,” he says. “Whether it be basketball, football, or volleyball. Second inspiration is yung people I
get to work with. Alam kong hindi nasasayang yung effort ko dahil alam kong gumagawa din sila.”