COVID-19 Shuts Down Opportunities For Scholar-Athlete

Z E H R A N O N E S

The Ripples Publication

Due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), athletes are forced to take detours from the path that could possibly lead them to their dreams. If not the loss of scholarship, athletes choose to refuse offers mainly because of the concern and anxiety brought by the virus.

RJ Pescadera, a football player from Ateneo de Iloilo, is one of those athletes. He had decided to reject a scholarship offer from one of the most prestigious universities in Manila, the University of Santo Tomas (UST).

Pescadera has competed in international tournaments such as SingaCup (held in Singapore), Borneo Cup and Pilipinas Cup. RJ, alongside his AdI teammates, gained silver in the Private Schools Athletic Association (PRISAA) for two consecutive years since 2018. He was also one of the players who have been selected to represent Iloilo last WVPRISAA 2019, where the team placed first.

“I did consider accepting the offer but because of COVID-19, I chose to stay and continue to play for Ateneo,” said Pescadera. He also shared that he wanted to grab the opportunity to train and play for UST to make his last two years of playing worthwhile, as he is planning to end his football career after Senior High School and spend his college years focusing on his studies.

According to Pescadera, he was first noticed by UST during the Pilipinas Cup 2015, a tournament where teams from all over and outside the Philippines have gathered to play football. He was playing for I, Pagasa FC, a football club from Iloilo. The team was awarded as the first runner up for the U14 category.

After the said tournament, Pescadera with his 3 other teammates were approached by one of the coaching staff from UST. Yet the offer was declined because he was, at that time, too young to study in Manila and away from his family.

In the 2018 Regional Governor’s Cup, Pescadera has again caught the eye of UST. However, he remained undecided.

“I was disappointed but also kind of happy. I was disappointed that I won’t be able to grab the chance to play for a renowned university like UST, especially that they have a great football program where I could harness and develop my talent and skills even more. But given the current situation, I guess I’m happy to just be able to stay close to home, with my family and friends.” said Pescadera when asked how he felt about his decision.

But instead of feeling discouraged and disheartened by the situation, the Atenean shared how the values the sport taught him became useful during this time of crisis.

“Football being a team sport taught me the importance of teamwork and leadership. With the country’s present condition, I believe teamwork of the whole community is needed in order to achieve the ultimate goal of reducing the number of cases. “

“We, as individuals, should also lead by example, to be in front in order for the people at the back to have a person to follow, be the last in order to push the person at your front and tell them that they should never give up. Hence, by following the implemented safety protocols, as a team player and a leader, I can contribute to the community and be an example in my own way,” he added.

Pescadera included a message for his fellow athletes as well: “Although there are no games because of the pandemic, we should continue to train and strive hard to become even better players. We shouldn’t also let this pandemic hinder and stop us from playing and doing what we love. We just have to hope for the best and one day, we can again all play our respective sports, like nothing had happened.”

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graphic by Megan Jimenez