The Philippine Online Chronicles

Sports is in my blood – it has from when I was a child being given a mini-basketball and hoop by my father, up to today, when I work as a sportswriter.

As an athlete before, we were the news. Though the sport of my choosing (athletics/track and field) was not as glamorous as the Pinoy's obsession (read: basketball), this never hindered me from performing as far as limits would let me.

I just tried out for the sport and loved every single minute I got onto the red and rubbery trackwhere I raced against myself during competitions. Constant practice and discipline was needed. There is no room for error, and that every training session meant a lot, even if I had to train for certain events where we did not even have the proper equipment to practice for it.

From all that hard work, I wound up with numerous medals for events such as the 110 meter hurdles, 400 meter hurdles and high jump. This success also brought me to different places around the country just to compete.

Almost a year after completing my degree in Sports Studies from a reputable university, I ended up finding this profession of being a sportswriter --- something that is technically within my field of knowledge.

With only a trimester of sports writing experience in a major subject, combined with a little experience as a campus journalist, I went further in this field using the stock knowledge that was passed on to me and nothing more. No connections, no experience --- just heart.

Transitions

Instead of an easy transition towards the big tournaments --- the NCAA and UAAP basketball tournaments, to be exact --- I was given an ice-cold shower and thrown immediately into the fire of covering the other NCAA games. Barely a month after, the UAAP games came along and the rest --- as they say --- is history.

Though it was painstakingly hard at first, groping for form and attempting to make a sensible story out of a somewhat plain match, I eventually got the hang of things.

However, another road block came in the form of learning how to keep notes of a sport I am not too keen on covering, such as volleyball and tae kwon do. But as they say, learning is a consistent process and it will eventually come.

Other than the usual work, I had to find ways in order to work in harmony along with my co-workers, who are veterans in the field. As the weeks and months passed by, I got along with them and found out how to socialize with them --- through Monday basketball sessions at Rizal Memorial Coliseum.

Through this I found a healthy balance between work and play, as well as a fulfillment of a long-withstanding frustration --- becoming part of the sports writers' varsity team, also known as the "Pakitang Gilas" basketball team.

The process of shifting paradigms from an athlete to sportswriter taught me how to adapt. Although I had the chance to be featured in broadsheets as part of team, at the same time I had to make the news about other people and events as well.

If there was something in common between sports writing and being an athlete, it has to be the discipline needed to succeed. The money will come later, but there is a certain level of discipline that must be kept in order to keep with the times, because one can't recover once you're out of the loop.

With this, and the knowledge that growth never ends in this industry, this may be the beginning of something grand.

Image taken from Cindy Funk on Flickr. Some rights reserved.