Friday, June 20, 2008 Villalva: The value of education for athletes By Henry C. Villalva Offside
MANY athletic scholars, who are enjoying varsity scholarships from our various colleges and universities in Bacolod, as well as elsewhere in the country, seem to take their scholarships for granted.
This comes to mind when one reflects on the untimely demise of former Colegio San Agustin-Bacolod Eagle Christian Antiporda who was shot to death several days back.
The high-flying, high scoring Antiporda, idolized not just by a few basketball fans in the barangays, particularly those in the towns and cities outside Bacolod whom he wowed during his many out-of-town sorties as a cager-for-hire, reportedly succumbed to gunshot wounds due to an alleged forbidden relationship with a girl, whose brother was reportedly responsible for shooting the once very promising cager.
Antiporda was just one of many athletes who were not able to take advantage of the college scholarship offered to them and who dropped out of college, ending up in playing for barangay level or town fiesta type tournaments for a minimal fee while the going was still there.
Of course, to many of these athletes, the glamour of being idolized even in the hinterland barangays sort of makes up for their often unsuccessful varsity stint.
But the reason really is, when you come to think of it, it could have been a different type of life story for many of these dropout athletes if only they were able to finish schooling and have obtained a degree that could usher in a decent stable job.
As they say, sayang! We sympathize with cases like this.
But we think coaches and mentors do have a moral obligation to see to it, or at the very least try hard, that these varsity standouts are properly guided so they can graduate.
Not everyone comes out to be like Boyet Fernandez or Rommel Aledron or Toto Amancio, to mention just three former varsitarians who used their caging skills to the hilt and ended up well-placed in their chosen professions - because of their basketball talent and their college degrees.
But we hope we can all learn from this sad episode in the life of our athletes, really!
P.S.: Our most sincere condolence to Antiporda's wife and family. May God's grace be sufficient to enable you to live through this.
