“You need to help student athletes help you win championships.” – Galwin Fabian

Every school wants to win.  Every school wants to have a trophy. Every school wants fame. Yet only few schools understand that, in order to, they need to put the right pieces together; they need  jocks that can deliver, they need the effective programs to help them, and they need an elite-level head coach on the team.

In this article, I’ll share what I learned from the past five years that I played for college the things I think every school needs to have in order to win.

Athletic Program

Implement a good recruitment program. To win a championship you need good players and to have good players you need to have a good recruitment program. Because if you don’t have a good recruitment program, it’s almost as good as saying you’ll never recruit good players. But still, few schools implement a good recruitment program and we can understand why, because it’s costly. Schools need to shell out more money for it because they need to send out more scouts in different places to look for potential athletes.

Schools like FEU, Letran and UST goes to different province just to look for potential players. Often times, their scouts and coaches goes to regional tournaments and Palarong Pambansa where they recruit athletes that finish at the top.

How does it help? Let’s take a look at Cleveland Cavaliers for example, LeBron James is a great player but there’s no one who he can truly rely on if he’s covered. One good player may be able to do it but it’s hard. Recruit good players and then look for championships.

Provide effective training program. Even if your players are good they still need to improve. That’s the beauty of sports, there is a certain level of competitiveness at any one time and it’s raised every now and then.

How does it help? Eventually, with an effective training program, we’ll soon see good athlete’s evolve into (or even better) Micheal Jordan, Babe Ruth, Tiger Woods or Paeng Nepumuceno.

The importance of a coach. It doesn’t matter if it’s a singles or a team competition, every athlete knows how important a coach is. A good coach knows how to use players effectively, they know how to train athletes to reach their full potential and they know what to do on every situations in the game.

Provide athlete’s proper nutritional diet. Proper diet, including carbohydrates and proteins intake provides the  required energy athletes needs in order to excel.

Raise school spirit. There’s a reason why cheer leading was invented. Players needs to be cheered, they need to be motivated. Raising school spirit raises a player’s morale and their athletic skills during the game. Let the students in your school watch the games of their classmates,  let them be proud of themselves.

Academic Program

By far, the most often neglected and the most important program every school should provide to their athletes.

I personally believe people think that the better a student athlete plays the lesser his performance are in academics. People equate athletic skills to academic skills like that. I confess I do and I’m afraid that it is partly true.

This goes back to how student athletes manage their time, how they balance school and sports. But first, let me ask you a question, suppose  you’re an athlete and you’re a top-caliber player and you or your team have a great chance of winning a championship  in the league your school is a member of. What would you do more, hone your skills or study your notes? Suppose there is a high paying professional league waiting for you when you perform exemplary well during your college years as an amateur athlete, what would you do more, hone your skills or study your notes? Conversely, if there is no professional league in your sports, what would you do? Would you still prefer to do more of sports than academics?

Personally, I think that whatever path our athletes choose to take, schools should provide them with the approriate academic program that suits them .

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The Mapua table tennis team held an open try-out last Sunday, May 24 at 9:00 A.M. beside the school’s canteen. This is my fifth and last time to hold such event as the captain of the team. It’s tiring but it’s equally fun.

I expected around thirty (30) to fifty (50) participants as it was the usual number during the past years, this time though, we had a mere ten (10) players. I don’t know why the numbers are down, but almost all of them have good skills to show. I guess it’s quality over quantity this time.

Our school offers four (4) playing athletic scholarships to the table tennis team but we’re usually six (6) on the team so that makes us split the four (4) available scholarship among us. When I was moved to the non-playing athletic scholarship this 4th quarter and my teammate opted to study instead to play for his fifth and final playing year, our team freed up two playing scholarship slots. It means, that from the ten (10) participants, there is an almost guarantee that two (2) of them will be recruited and will receive an athletic scholarship.

Reading along this lines, my mind asks me why does the recently re-established Mapua Volleyball Team faithfully practice even without getting any athletic scholarship. Is it because they want to be exempted in the military training and physical education courses? Or they just wish they can play?

I don’t know.

A student’s life inside the walls of Mapua is not a walk in the park, it needs dedication, perseverance, hard work and time. Without getting any benefits outside playing the sport you love, I don’t see any reason they should focus on it. But what gives, I commend them.

Some play to win. Some play for glory. But one thing I’d like to think and I truly believe is that that they, like any other student athlete’s, do it for the love of the game.

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This brings me back to the time when I played for the first time in the Men’s NCAA Tournament in 2005-06, our team finished seventh that season. In 2006-07, we finished sixth. Last year, we finished fifth.  This year though, I don’t want the fourth place finish, I want us to be on top!

This season will be my last NCAA Tournament because hopefully,  I’ll finish all my remaining undergraduate units this fourth quarter. And since it’s my last chance to play my beloved sport in the collegiate level, I’d like it to be a great experience so that when I grow old and when I looked back I’ll have a smile.

One thing I regret that I never did in the past was that I was not able to write my previous NCAA tournament experiences. I’m praying that this time, from the start until the end of this season’s tournament I’ll be able to write down the experiences that I’ll have from my last games in college. Yes, I’m that sentimental about it. Haha!

So starting this coming Saturday, I invite you to join me at the Colegio de San Juan de Letran Gymnasium for the 84th NCAA Table Tennis Tournament.

This is your Student Athlete and this is my last hurrah!

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What we do is that, during fourth and first quarterm, we train three (3) days a week for three (3) hours each. During second and third quarterm, we train three hours every weekday.

From personal experience, these are the ten of many things that will improve your performance.
Continue training during off season. Whatever the results are, you must set your mind for more improvement.  You’d do that if you continue training during off season. Besides, if your in the groove, why stop?

Record a video of your game and watch it. This one’s almost always a hot pie. It’s hard to know what your weaknesses are but if you watch your game, you’ll learn many things you should need to improve.

Had faith in yourselves. You’ll never achieve if you don’t believe in yourself.

Always give your 110%. Competition is not just about skills, it is also about hearts. Every time you compete, always put your heart into it.

Set priorities and manage your time well. Being a student athlete means choked schedule. During weekends, instead of staying out late with your friends and have fun, you must sleep. Instead of going out with your crush, you pack your things and head for the gym. It sucks but it’s alright. Manage your time so you can at least have a talk with your friends to keep up to date. You never know until when you’ll have that skills so better be focused in your studies just in case.

Do more tune-up games. A month before the season starts, it is a good thing to go out and visit a bunch of places to play. Playing with different athletes will broaden your game IQ.

Mental Preparation. Going into a game with so much things in your head is a suicide.

Have fun. Games are made for people to enjoy and that includes you.

Pray. You’ve done your part. It’s up to His plan now.

Do nothing. After all things are said and done, hang your shoes and lay to your bed. It’s every athletes’ haven.

How about you, what do you do to improve your game? I’d like to know.

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