Photo by Christie K. Lim
WHILE MOST children would still be sound asleep early in the morning, that wasn’t the case for tennis rookie Shannin Olivarez. Her father introduced tennis to her when she was eight years old, and she has never put down the racket since.
Her dad would wake her up as early as 3:30 AM to play from 4:00 to 6:00 AM. She would finish her early morning hit, breeze through school during the day and resume training from 5:00 to 7:00 PM on weekdays.
Sundays were off days, but on the other six days of the week, Olivarez went all out on her game.
An experienced freshman
Tennis became a major part of her life because her mentor and father, Pablo Olivarez, was the former coach of the Philippine Team in the 1980s in Los Angeles. The former tennis professional also coached her siblings to success in the Southeast Asian Games and the International Tennis Federation.
“It’s a privilege and an honor for me, as his daughter, to have a coach and a mentor like him,” the rookie shares.
A member of the National Team in the Junior World Cup, she has bagged numerous titles including the super 12 Asia Pacific Activities Conference championships last October 2011 in Beijing.
“We beat all the 11 schools, and took home the gold medal. It was such an honor to take home the bacon since it rarely happens that all 12 schools in Asia Pacific would meet for one event,” Olivarez recalls.
The hard work and discipline Olivarez developed thanks to the guidance of her father as her coach has indeed taken her places.
Despite the various offers from the University of the Philippines and even member schools of the United States’ prestigious National Collegiate Athletic Association, Olivarez chose Ateneo as her home.
“I was happy that they were impressed with my performance, but I needed to let go of my plans of going to a college in the USA because of the responsibilities that I would need to leave behind,” she shares.
Strengths and weaknesses
Olivarez patterns her game after the offensive juggernauts Martina Hingis and Serena Williams. “I have two great assets on the court: one is my backhand and the other is my serve,” she says.
Despite all her strengths, however, Olivarez admits she still has some aspects of her game that need work. “I prefer playing on the baseline,” she shares, adding that her volley game also needs improvement.
Veteran Lady Shuttler Joanne Opulencia shares, “She’s a really good singles player and we’re really lucky to have her! She’s a good addition to the team.”
Adding in more praise was senior Niquie Angelo, who based her comments on Olivarez’s strong performance in the Unigames in Bacolod last October. “She displays a strong sense of team spirit, which helps lift up the team during competitions,” says Angelo.
She has a lot of years ahead of her and as each day passes by, her growth as a student-athlete continues. “I know that in Ateneo, I will have the chance to show my talent as a tennis player, and to represent the school with great pride and passion,” she says.
