THE DIFFERENT sports clubs and teams are holding the Sports Cluster Recruitment Week entitled, Game Changer: Driven By Passion, on September 26- 30, 2016 at the SEC Foyers.
Both accredited and unaccredited sports groups are looking into adding new members, who will share the same passion and commitment in these different sports.
Ateneo College Arnis Varsity Team
The Ateneo College Arnis Varsity Team, led by Gaia Benjamin and Jordan Cruz, is the university’s premiere Arnis team. A growing team with over 40 members, the club aims to expand its roster during this school year’s Recweek.
The Arnis team trains regularly, conducting two types of training sessions—conditioning and skills training— which will depend on the schedules of their upcoming competitions. Conditioning helps the members prepare their bodies for more serious training after a break, while skills training, consisting of sparring and Anyo Form, is done when competitions are nearing.
The team boasts of a number of regionally and nationally recognized individuals, some of whom have competed in World Eskrima Kali Arnis Federation (WEKAF) competitions. Aside from this, Arnis is now officially a University Athletics Association of the Philippines (UAAP) demo sport this season 79, which will be held in the second semester.
Benjamin is keen to stress that the club is open to anyone of any skill level that would like to join. “We even encourage people to come in randomly and just train with us,” she adds. The team’s trainings are held on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 5PM to 7PM.
Ateneo Kendo Club
The Ateneo Kendo Club, captained by Jordan Cruz, provides an opportunity for everyone to experience Japanese culture in the Philippine context . The word Kendo meaning “the way of the sword” in Japanese— features the art of Japanese swordsmanship, sword techniques and for
Though the club only opened last year, Cruz believes that the club will be entering competitions soon, since the mastery of the sport’s form takes time for practice. Heavy emphasis is put into form in kendo, as the members repeatedly practice striking using a bamboo sword called the Shinai during training.
Although Kendo may seem challenging, the trainings will be conducted at a beginner’s pace, making the sport accessible to anyone that would like to join. “No worries [with regard] to experience. Seeing as the club is only starting out, everybody will be of equal footing,” Cruz adds.
As a relatively new club, the Ateneo Kendo Club is looking to recruit passionate and dedicated individuals this coming Recweek. The club’s lessons are conducted every Tuesday from 5PM to 7PM.
Ateneo Dance Sport Club
The Ateneo Dance Sport Club (ADSC) is headed by Rej Bagonoc and overseen by former ADSC president Jan Gabriel Cerezo. The club, currently composed of 17 competing members, is keen to expand their membership this coming Sports Recweek.
ADSC is an active participant of both the University of the Philippines Diliman Dancesports Cup and University of Santo Tomas’ Ola Bayle Dance Competition throughout the years. This year, the club was able to make a debut this University Athletics Association of the Philippines season’s Ballroom Formation Dance Competition, showing that the club has continually been striving to compete in the highest level of dancesport. Furthermore, the club boasts of members who have competed in regional and national competitions outside of the club as well. While the club is very dedicated to competition, Bagonoc stressed that a primary aim of the club is to develop friendships as well. “We try to foster a sense of family within the club,” he states.
The club is open to any and all interested applicants with Bagonoc’s only warning: “body pain is usually guaranteed the next day.” The club trains on Mondays and Fridays from 5:30PM to 7PM.
Ateneo Flag Football Club
Flag football is a sport that provides the thrills and challenge of American tackle football but without the risk of injury through contact. However, the sports should not be taken too lightly. The Ateneo Flag Football club engages its members in rigorous training, rain or shine, mastering both the offensive and defensive side of the sport.
The training of the club challenges both physical condition as well as game plan execution. Although football is an advanced game of strategy coordination, and teamwork, beginners are very much welcome as the club helps members integrate quickly into their system of play.
Flag football is open to everyone, as it requires players of different build and stature because of the different roles the sport offers. The club veterans are knowledgeable and are willing to teach anyone who is eager to learn the sport.
Unlike the usual sporting divisions, this new and relatively unknown sport is open to both men and women, since the tournaments require mixed rosters. The club engages in both inter-club and inter-collegiate tournaments and has placed on the podium twice the past year. The trainings are held on Monday, Wednesday and Friday usually after 4PM.
The Blue Archers Archery Club
Archery is a sport that does not test athleticism; it requires skill and focus from the individual. Patience and dedication is needed to succeed in this sport, and this is precisely what the Blue Archers of Ateneo exemplify.
The Blue Archers Archery Club is a growing community and competes in biannual inter-collegiate competitions. The club also plans to have a charity shooting event for a flagship project to give back to the community.
The club recently added a national team coach to help them become competitive in the higher-level field of international competitions. New members are welcomed into the club and are expected to be willing learners. Their training is scheduled on weekends, usually lasting for six to eight hours and the club also provides equipment for beginners.
Being an Olympic sport that is slowly growing in our country, the Blue Archers Club of Ateneo provides an avenue for those who are willing to join the future of Philippine Archery.
Ateneo Women’s Basketball Club
The Women’s Basketball Club has always dominated the competition within the Ateneo community. With their competitiveness, this club of passionate ballers plan on competing with other clubs of other universities soon.
In a sport wherein its transcendent stars are men, this club offers women the chance to hone and show off their basketball talent and become stars themselves. Together, the club becomes a support group of women who enjoy shooting three-pointers, while inspiring each other to become better.
Interested students though should expect a warm welcome regardless of skill level, but commitment is expected of them. This club also extends its welcome to those who want to give basketball a shot for the first time, while meeting new friends and creating team chemistry with them through playing.
Basketball is a game built on fundamentals and the club works on this on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5PM to 6:30PM, which will not be a problem to those who live by the saying “Ball is Life”.
The Intramurals Athletic Council (IAC)
The IAC provides the Loyola Schools community with an opportunity to compete in athletic tournaments. The council organizes the basketball and volleyball tournaments for the first semester, and a bigger basketball tournament in the second semester, which is open to all students groups from different organizations who are interested in joining. Aside from this, it also organizes futsal and table tennis tournaments are also included in the second semester.
The IAC gives its members an opportunity to work as managers, handling all the aspects of a sports league. Members are not required to have knowledge about sports to join. As one of the smaller organizations, the IAC allows its members to know everyone involved, even the athletes competing, and also grow as a family.
One of the rewards of working for the IAC is being able to see non-UAAP athletes shine and compete very much like the players they look up to. Interested applicants are welcome to join this family of athletes and students, contributing to the satisfaction of the college community for friendly competition.
The Ateneo Mixed Martial Arts Club
The Ateneo Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) club provides an avenue for the Ateneo community to learn and practice different mixed martial arts. In the ring, fighters may seem to fight alone but in reality, fighting is a team effort and the club supports its fighters through training and presence in the sidelines.
Before every match, fighters go through a rigorous, month long training program to prepare for the fight itself and to help curb their weight to fit into their respective weight divisions. This makes the club a popular choice for those looking to get fit since training consists of conditioning, cardio, break falls, striking, grappling, and many more.
The MMA club is also a place to hone your mental skills, since the fights are not just a test of athletic ability, but it takes good strategy to win. Last May, two fighters from the club found success in the Ultimate Knockout Challenge, both finishing in the top 4 and one winning the competition.
MMA is not an individual sport, it takes team effort to win. The club trains on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5PM to 6:30PM.
The Ateneo Ultimate Frisbee Club
The Ateneo Ultimate Frisbee club is the place to go to play one of the fastest growing sports in the Philippines. Since the club is on its first few years of starting out, they hold open pick-ups in order to encourage players of all skill levels to try out a new and interesting sport.
Even if the club is relatively new, they have already found success in their competitions, finishing second in an Under-24 Mixed Division of the 2016 Philippine Ultimate Little League (PULL) tournament in Cavite this September. Aside from this, the team has also participated in the National Ultimate Collegiate Championship, a nationwide school tournament held every June, where the team was able to land in second place last year and seventh place this year.
Most of the members of the club are composed of players, who are part of a frisbee club outside of the Ateneo. This brings a lot of experience to the club that gives beginners a chance to train with skilled and experienced players. Being able to participate in Ultimate gives the chance to learn not only a new sport but to meet new people. The club trains on Mondays and Wednesday from 4PM to 6PM.
The Ateneo Volleyball Club
The Ateneo Volleyball club gives beginners and amateurs the opportunity to play one of the most popular sports in the Philippines. Their focus on scrimmages allows those interested to play to their heart’s desire.
The club offers two types of training: a regular one where at least 12 members will play together and a formal training which focuses on honing their skills with the coaches and AVC Alumni through stretching, drills and technique training.
As the club grows in membership and in commitment, it aims to execute different projects such as hosting tournaments, open clinics, and outreach programs in the near future. The club is looking for volleyball enthusiasts who are passionate and committed to the sport and who wish to improve their skills.
With big things in store for for the club, members not only find a new home to play the sport that they love, they also find a family to be with and a reprieve from college life. The club trains on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 5PM to 7:30PM.
The Ateneo Futsal Club
The Ateneo Futsal club is the place to go for football enthusiasts, who will be playing the sport in the form of futsal. Considering the similarities between the two sports, a vast majority of the Ateneo Futsal club are also football players, who are able to find a home on the futsal court because of their shared passion for the sports. The difference between the two sports is that futsal itself is essentially a smaller and faster version of football, with a different set of rules.
The club fosters this passion through their regular trainings on Mondays and Wednesdays from 5PM to 7PM, which consist of conditioning and improving on the fundamentals and highlighting the scrimmages at the end of their training sessions.
Meanwhile, The club both participates and hosts its own tournaments. They are currently participating in the University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P) Subaru cup and will be hosting the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) Umbro cup early next year. The club also partners with organizations such as Kythe-Ateneo to conduct outreach programs, where they teach futsal to the organizations’ target communities.
Players of all skill levels are encouraged to join, but dedication and commitment are the major traits that the club looks for, as the club highlights the importance of building chemistry through teamwork and treating everyone like family.
Ateneo Bike Club
Riding a bike is perhaps one of the very first achievements any child can accomplish. However not everyone can balance themselves and cruise through on just two wheels with ease. The Ateneo Bike Club offers beginners a chance to learn the basics of biking while also catering to advanced riders who seek the thrill of rides with fellow enthusiasts.
The Biking Club conducts its rides every weekend at the Timberland Sports and Nature Club in San Mateo, Rizal. The veterans ride slower, in order to assist newbies who join.
In the previous year, the club welcomed a lot of members, but their active participation in the club became a problem. With the Sports Recruitment Week now at hand, Team Captain Ian Arce shares his plan of welcoming fewer members, as a means of being more hands-on with everyone in the club.
Aside from providing basic biking lessons, the Ateneo Bike Club also gathers bike-aficionados to create an avenue to share tips about the sport, but more importantly share the opportunity to enjoy the sport with other like-minded individuals.
It’s time to cross out “learn how to bike” off of your list. With great company and insightful lessons, the Ateneo Bike Club will certainly help one experience the joy of riding a bike.
Ateneo Boxing Club
Boxing is one of the most popular sports in the Philippines, only coming in behind the country’s Basketball love affair, thanks to the contribution of 8-time world champion and current Senator, Manny Pacquiao.
The Ateneo Boxing Club invites everyone who is interested in practicing their technique and improving their endurance in this calorie-burning sport. The club has a specific training regimen, which includes weights training and cross training with the Arnis varsity team.
The club is open to all levels as it currently consists of a mix of beginners and experienced boxers, who are there to guide the newbies in preparation for the competitions they will be joining.
A major competition that the boxing team joins is the Ultimate Knockout Challenge hosted by Elorde last year in Parañaque City. Being an open tournament, the members were pitted against advanced level boxers, which helped them gain more experience in the sport.
Amidst the thousands of jab-straights that are being thrown in their daily grind, everyone in the club has a passion for boxing and has enjoyed each other’s company even outside of the ring. The club trains on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5PM to 8PM.
Ateneo Golf Team
Golf is a sport that is essentially an individual game. In spite of this, the Ateneo Golf Team makes it a point to create and cultivate a family atmosphere among the players and coaches.
Team Captain Pio Neri shares that the team makes practices interesting by engaging in friendly stakes such as free lunch for the winners. Though they may be trying to outclass each other when coaches are not around, the veterans step up and offer guidance and tips to the rookies on their swing and techniques to improve their game.
One important clarification is that they are a team and not simply a club. As such they officially represent Ateneo in major competitions. As such, the team cannot accept Ateneans who want to learn the basics of the sport. Although this is the case, the Ateneo Golf Team is open to directing newbies in the right direction, in the form of excellent coaching and training.
In spite of this, the team is currently on the lookout for new players to don the Blue and White on the pitch next year. With seven players in their final playing year, who knows, maybe you’re the player the Golf team is looking for.
Ateneo Tennis Club
The Ateneo Tennis Club serves as an avenue to unwind with people who share the same passion in tennis and help each other improve on their skills. In Team Captain Zeph Alcantara’s words, “[Training days] are nights of sweat, banter, and lots of balls to pick up.”
When asked about what she enjoys the most about being in a club, Alcantara highlights the friendship and camaraderie that is formed on the court. She also cherishes the opportunity to take a breather from academics through a sport she loves. “I have my block for academics, orgmates for my organizations, and now teammates for clubs,” she further shares about how the clubs allow her to cover the whole spectrum of relationships.
As for beginners who wish to sign up, Alcantara says that they are certainly welcome to join the club. She relates that coaches are hands-on with everyone and focus on the beginners, but also incorporate them into the entire club. Aside from the coaching staff, the current members are very accommodating and friendly and will surely make the experience worthwhile.
The Ateneo Tennis Club trains every Tuesday and Thursday at night time.
The Ateneo Grappling League
The Ateneo Grappling League (AGL) is Ateneo’s wrestling martial art club. As a subset of combat sports, it primarily utilizes groundwork in contrast to striking martial arts like Taekwondo. It differs from MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) because it is more focused on getting the upper hand on your opponent while wrestling on the ground.
“In my opinion, wrestling is the hardest [compared to other martial arts]. It is challenging both physically and mentally,” says AGL Captain Kashmir Yap. This year, he and co-captain Ryan Chua are hoping to gather around 30 more dedicated recruits to add to their band of 10.
Yap states that he found the club for the sole purpose of teaching the basics of the sport and newcomers without prior experience should not be discouraged. In addition, anyone who is interested is also allowed to attend their walk-in training sessions.
“The goal is to conquer, both on the mat and in life” is the AGL’s motto.
Ateneo Fencing Team
The Ateneo Fencing Team (AFT) is opening its doors this year to new recruits, as this is the first time they will participate in the Sports Recweek. AFT manager CJ Tan stated: “Fencing has always been known as an exclusive sport, but we want to show how open we are and how fun it is to train. We want to be more visible to the Ateneo community.”
For the Ateneo Fencing team, Recweek is a great opportunity for them to rake in new members early enough to train them for the upcoming major competitions which include the UAAP, SEAFF (Southeast Asian Fencing Federation), and PNG (Philippine National Games).
Currently, Captain Simon Borja is not specific as to how many he and the rest want to recruit but the team is hoping for more members in the foil category because of the least number of members among the other categories.
During last year’s UAAP, the AFT was unable to medal in any events, but that will not let them stop new blood from feeling left out. Both captains insisted that their teams are diverse and friendly groups with Borja even adding how he and his teammates are willing to make newcomers feel welcomed into the team.
The Ateneo Fencing Team trains at 4:30PM to 7:30PM from Monday to Friday and 1PM to 4PM every Saturday.
The Ateneo Rifle Pistol Team
The Ateneo Rifle Pistol Team (ARPT) is the university’s premiere olympic-style sport shooting team. Trained in specifically handling rifles and pistols, they aim to be the best shooters out there. Team Captains Sherry Gonida and Jordan Cruz are out for excellence looking for new recruits this recruitment week.
The team itself is split into four factions: Men’s Pistol, Men’s Rifle, Women’s Pistol and Women’s Rifle. “It’s very rare we have people who do both or shift from one to another,” indicated Cruz. Currently, the ARPT maintains around 30 members with a maximum of 40 available slots (20 men’s, 20 women’s).
This year, the team was sent to participate in the 18th ASEAN University Games held on July 10-18 in Singapore. Although none of the members of the team failed to place on the podium, it was still a memorable first international competition of the team.
Gonida and Cruz are looking for new recruits this year with an innate desire to learn how to shoot and to enjoy the sport. Prior experience is unnecessary; “what matters is to get recruits who actually want and have the drive to push and compete” insists Cruz.
The Ateneo Rifle Pistol Team trains every Monday to Thursday from 1:3oPM to 6PM.
Illustration and animation by Jezka Ratilla.
