A SYMBOL of school pride and spirit, the Ateneo Blue Babble Battalion is the front liner in energizing and uplifting the Ateneo community, especially during University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) games. Recently however, the team has faced a number of dilemmas—the biggest being their lack of a coach for several months—which led to an abrupt drop in membership.
With that, many wondered, “Has Babble disbanded?”
Finally equipped with a new coaching staff, Babble is the process of rebuilding its team. With the new UAAP season opening soon, they are faced with picking up where they left off.
Backtrack
Four years ago, Babble was composed of only five lifters and eight cheer dancers. But because one of the captains was also a dorm head, they were able to conduct dorm raids that persuaded a significant number of people to fill up their open slots. They were known as the “rookie bunch,” with majority of the team having no background in gymnastics or cheerleading at all.
In the same year, however, Babble stunned everyone by winning second place in the UAAP Cheerdance competition. Their victory ended the combined winning streak of the perennial top three placers, the University of the Philippines, the University of Santo Tomas (UST) and Far Eastern University. The Ateneo’s victory was at the expense of UST.
Motivated by their win, the squad showed considerable improvement in their skill level the following year. In spite of this, the team’s stats went down and they were one place short of a podium finish that season.
In 2011, the squad decided to broaden their exposure, joining the National Cheerleading Competition (NCC). In the eliminations round, they finished at third place. In the finals, however, the team’s standing took an unfortunate dip and they placed only ninth out of 23. The trend carried over to the UAAP season, where the squad only managed to scrape up a seventh out of eight finish.
Last year, the team again owned the third spot in the 2012 NCC eliminations and improved to a fifth out of 19 finish in the finals. In the summer, Babble also competed in the 2012 FilOil Cheerdance Competition and placed third out of six.
The most recent UAAP season turned out to be quite eventful for team. Babble tried to stage a comeback but only placed fifth during the Cheerdance Competition. According to the lifters’ three-time Team Captain Laurence Arceno, however, despite their ranking, the group was satisfied with the overall outcome of their performance. “We’re happy because it was only the day before the competition that we were able to run through the complete routine,” he elaborates. “It was a rough journey.”
Arceno also shared that, just a few days before the competition, several members suffered injuries that threatened the outcome of their performance.
To cap things off, Babble’s seven-year run with Coach Randell San Gregorio ended last September, right after the UAAP Cheerdance Competition. It was not until January that a new coach came in. But come mid-April, the team found itself lacking a mentor once more, for reasons its members still aren’t clear on.
Vicious cycle
Another problem Babble is constantly faced with is member retention. With the massive amount of time used for rigorous training and cheering at games, many members opt to drop out of the team to prioritize their academics. This has resulted in a vicious cycle of seeking out new talent and honing their skills, only to eventually lose their prized investments.
In a mix of English and Filipino, Arceno shares, “Every year, the problem is the team is relatively new.” He explains that members stay in their first year and eventually quit, only to rejoin the squad later on. But by then, crucial time needed for improvement on skills and stunts has already been lost. It is the members’ lack of commitment, he points out, that is problematic.
This year, however, the biggest factor in the membership drop was the absence of a mainstay coach for several months. Cheerdancers Captain Bea Crisologo shares, “It’s been so hard because we all thought that everyone would just quit. We wanted to train, but we weren’t allowed to without a coach.”
While there were no training sessions, members had the chance to expand their horizons. They either enrolled in sports classes to keep fit or tried out new organizations. In some cases, these other organizations and sports appealed more to the members, causing them to quit Babble entirely.
Rising to the challenge
On May 7, good news came to Babble: They finally had a new official coaching staff. Leading the squad as head coach is former Babble Cheerdancers Team Captain Barbara Escueta, fondly called “Coach Baba.” Assistant Coaches Ryan Silva and Marvin Wyant, on the other hand, were both former members and coaches of the multi-awarded UST Salinggawi Dance Troupe.
Escueta will take charge of cheers, Silva will handle choreography and stunts and Wyant will handle gymnastics. The team sees the entry of the new coaching staff as an added strength, given that the coaches’ styles are very different from what the team has experienced in the past.
Currently, Babble is focusing on what they have and what they can work on. “Now that we’re starting training again, our first priority is recruitment. We need to get more people on the team for us to recover,” says Crisologo. “We’re all willing to teach and to learn as much as we have to. We already have the commitment of the current members and our coaches. We just need new people to commit to us.”
Aside from bringing in fresh talent, the team plans to re-invite members who left last year. They will also use recruitment strategies that worked to their advantage in the past, such as a performance at the Orientation Seminar, dorm raids, and room-to-room recruitment in Physical Education classes.
When asked about where he sees Babble going this year, Arceno says, “[I have] no expectations, but I’m optimistic it’ll be good. It occurred to me to work hard. Whatever we do, we show it to the community. Before, as a team captain, [I would say], ‘We need to place.’ Now, [it’s] more on, ‘Let’s improve.’ [It’s a] rebuilding stage for the team. We’ll get back those seven months we’ve lost.”
