With arms raised and fists clenched, the Ateneo Football Team held their heads low as A Song for Mary resounded across the Erenchun field for the final time in the UAAP Season 73 Football Championships. For such a hardworking group of footballers, this lackluster end of the season could not have been more heart-wrenching.
The Blue and Lady Booters concluded the season with less-than-stellar results. Three draws and seven losses were all that the men’s team could muster, as they finished at the bottom of the collegiate cellar. On the distaff side, the women garnered one win, three draws and four losses en route to a fifth place finish.
When the worst was supposed to have passed, head coaches Ompong Merida of the Blue Booters and Scarlet Bautista of the Lady Booters voluntarily approached the University Athletics Office (UAO) and asked for their contracts not to be renewed. Despite wanting the two coaches to stay, the UAO respected their decision and let them go.
Two steps backward
Athletic Year 2010-2011 was meant to be the beginning of a rebuilding phase for Ateneo Football. Without their coaches, the players and offices concerned have a lot to work on.
“We were really caught off guard. This was a total surprise and a big setback for the football program,” said Emmanuel Fernandez of the UAO. “We had made rebuilding plans with the two head coaches and we built the teams around them.”
Merida expressed his desire to focus on the Grade School and High School football programs, systems which he had developed successfully for the past 13 years. The multi-titled coach shared that focusing on the development of these young players will enable him to more closely oversee their training and development, and thus prepare them better for the rigors of college play.
Although his departure was unexpected, Merida had already voiced out in previous years that he felt he had done everything he could for the Seniors’ Football Team. After three championships and numerous runs to the UAAP Final Four, he sensed that the time to step down was drawing closer and also spoke of wanting to spend more time with his family. The steady decline of the Blue Booters’ performance in the last two seasons should likewise not be ruled out as a possible factor in his decision to leave.
On the other hand, Bautista’s request not to return as mentor of the Lady Booters arises from an opportunity to coach the Women’s Under-17 Philippine Youth Football Team. Such a posting entails attending a licensing seminar in Germany during the whole summer in order to upgrade her current coaching license from a Class C to Class B.
The time constraint associated with this redeployment is the prime reason of her departure. Bautista felt that her absence over the summer, and less time to balance between the two commitments, would be unfair to the Lady Booters if she were to remain head coach.
Perfect fit
Rebuilding a team is difficult. Finding the right fit for a coach is just as challenging. There are many young coaches qualified to coach a collegiate football team, but they would rather play in the United Football League (UFL) than coach. The boom in football popularity in the country, with the advent of the Azkals’ success, has benefitted the UFL with more financial backing, which translates to higher salaries for players.
“We don’t want to pressure coaching prospects and put them into an undesirable situation of having to choose to play professionally or to coach a university team. We’re also looking for the right [person] fit to coach in Ateneo,” said Fernandez.
Besides embodying the ideals and values of Ateneo, the ideal coach for any Ateneo team should understand that academics and sports go hand in hand in the university. According to College Athletics Coordinator Benjo Afuang, “The coaches should understand that a player’s academics should not suffer due to sports. The main priority for these athletes is to graduate.”
A new era
The Merida and Bautista era of Ateneo Football has come to its fateful end—much to both the approval and dismay of many in the Ateneo community.
Left behind is a young and eager team of footballers searching for a guardian who can restore the long lost glory to the once-dominant Ateneo Booters. Whoever it may be and whatever systems may be utilized, the new coaches will be tasked to reignite the flame of football in the Ateneo.
