VARSITY teams have lost at least six key athletes due to academic deficiencies even before UST could formally begin its quest for another general championship in UAAP Season 74.
Sweet-shooting Clark Bautista will not suit up for the Growling Tigers after failing subjects in his Communication Arts major. Badminton standout Peter Magnaye, the Season 73 Most Valuable Player suffered a similar fate and opted to concentrate instead on the national team.
Swimmers Michael Godoy and Fritz Agapay will no longer be playing for UST owing to academic problems at the College of Commerce and Business Administration and Institute of Physical Education and Athletics (IPEA), respectively.
Tiger Paddler Zoren Mendiola, Season 71’s top rookie, reportedly moved to San Beda College after flunking subjects at the College of Commerce. Judoka Setsuko Ando, a Filipino-Japanese, will miss the season because of problems with her Theology subjects.
It also remains to be seen if Anna Patricia Barredo, a 17-year-old badminton standout, would be eligible to play this season because of personal problems and academic woes at the College of Education.
“Right now we are not sure if she can play this season, although she is still practicing with the team,” said coach Noli Cajefe.
Fr. Ermito de Sagon, O.P., IPEA director, downplayed the impact of the apparent handicap on UST’s overall performance this season.
“I am more concerned about UST’s chances of winning this season’s overall crown since training has been greatly affected by the lack of facilities,” he said.
UST’s new state-of-the-art sports complex is yet to be completed.
‘Academic forgiveness’
De Sagon could not tell how many athletes UST lost exactly due to academic deficiency.
According to the handbook, “old students, except those in the senior year, with failures corresponding to nine or more units are not to be readmitted in the succeeding semesters.”
A check with the registrar’s office showed that Magnaye, Mendiola, Godoy, and Agapay were facing debarment.
“Right now, we can’t tell the exact number of athletes that got debarred since there were instances when the athlete took a subject during summer but their grades were still marked as ‘failed’ in the records on the computers,” De Sagon said.
He said the IPEA would inquire with individual colleges to determine the general academic status of all varsity players.
Dean Michael Anthony Vasco of the Faculty of Arts and Letters said a debarred student could still apply in another college or faculty in UST.
“But it depends on that [new] college whether they will accept that person,” he said. “There is such a thing called as ‘academic forgiveness,’ students can start anew with a different course.”
Vasco declined to comment on the academic standing of athletes belonging to his faculty, saying the IPEA was in a better position to discuss the matter.
Glowing goldies
In contrast, other top UST athletes have also excelled in academics.
Swimmer Miguel Carandang earned his Biology degree earlier this year and is now enrolled at the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery. Fellow swimmer Gerrol Castillo and Tiger Spiker John Depante are both in the dean’s list at the Faculty of Engineering and College of Architecture, respectively.
Coach Cyrus Alcantara was all praises for his two swimmers: “These two guys are very exceptional. I can’t say anything against them. Both are very hard-working and can balance the game and their studies. Every athlete should be like them.”
Added Depante: “I always tell my teammates that to balance studies and sports, we always need three things—time management, sacrifice and prayers.”
Big losses
Badminton coach Noli Cajefe admitted that Magnaye’s departure would weaken the team.
“It will probably take two years before we can restore our strength,” he said. “We cannot reverse the situation anymore.”
Growling Tigers’ team captain Jeric Fortuna said Bautista’s absence would be a major roadblock in their rebuilding process.
“Other players would have to step up especially since Tata (Bautista) was one of our veterans and sometimes a first option on offense,” he said.
Bautista will be on a hiatus this season while settling for a Team B spot.
Judo acting coach Gerard Arce described Ando as a hard-worker and a leader in the team. Ando said she had difficulties adjusting in her Theology classes, mainly because of her cultural background.
Alcantara attributed the loss of swimmers Godoy and Agapay to lack of discipline. “Discipline is what is needed from those two; training is not a hindrance to their classes since our training sessions are conducted before dawn,” he said.
With Mendiola reportedly transferring to San Beda, his former coach Henberd Ortalla warned that the ex-UST paddler might have to leave the national team. Ortalla noted that NCAA rules bar national players from participating in the collegiate tournament.
De Sagon said UST do not prevent its athletes from joining the national pool, “but they have to be responsible enough to avoid failing their subjects, since we cannot do anything about [the problem] anymore.” Alexis U. Cerado and Rodolfo Serafin Jerome T. Lozada
Is this really news worthy and don’t you have any sense of decency in exposing this issue?
I think Thomasians should know what is happening with their athletes. The report was written fairly. And I guess it was permitted to be published by those who are named here.
There’s nothing wrong with this article, at least it is telling everyone the TRUTH and not making excuses why they’re not part of the team anymore.
What decency are you talking about?
I don’t think there’s something wrong with the article. It goes to show that UST doesn’t want athletes to play if they can’t perform well in the academics.
If these athletes only performed well last academic year, Then they could play without hindrance this year.
UST doesn’t want UAAP prestige if the athletes are not good in their respective academic credentials
This article is well written. Kudos to the author