AWAY FROM the crowds and cameras are sports that have yet to catch the attention of the public eye. Two such teams in the Ateneo de Manila University are its Chess and Lawn Tennis teams, who, despite their historically subpar rankings, have continued to develop their programs in the hopes of being able to make it to the top of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP).

A change of strategy

Based on past UAAP seasons, as well as the most recent results of Season 78, it is clear that the Ateneo Chess teams have not yet reached their fullest potential in terms of rank and standings. However, this year has seen the team and its coaches taking on new strategies and training techniques that will hopefully allow them to grow and develop the two squads even more.

Blue Eagle Head Coach Roland Perez and Lady Eagle Head Coach Michael Gotel both have different approaches to training their respective teams. “Despite your skills, you must also take care of your mental toughness,” explains Perez, on what he aims for the Men’s team to improve on. To achieve this, he intentionally pits his players against stronger opponents in order to toughen them up.

On the other hand, Gotel prefers to train the Lady Eagles similar to a support system by having regular training camps and bonding activities. He adds that the women also perform physical training in order to raise their stamina. “Tinatamad sila sa [chess] board (They get tired of the chess board),” says Gotel, expounding on the importance for more diverse motivational methods.

However, what both coaches, as well as the players, agree on is that the most needed trait they need, yet still lack, is experience. Exposing the team to other chess masters and allowing them to participate in large- and small-scale competitions will eventually allow the Blue and White to develop their skills against a wider variety of talented competitors; books and theoretical lessons can only go so far in teaching a chess player.

“If you only have a few tournaments, you won’t be able to experience different difficulties during the game,” says Perez. “It will take time,” Gotel adds.

Perez also states that the love for chess should be introduced at the grade school level and work its way to the college recruitment. However, this is where Gotel is at a disadvantage, since the majority of his players are new to the Women’s Chess team. A solution he proposes is to hire new coaching recruits from alumni Ateneo chess players so that previous techniques can be taught faster. This will allow them to move forward to more advanced training instead of going through the basics season after season.

Thus, the long-term goal is to build a greater and more experienced chess community by exceeding their boundaries in training and competing. Both coaches have already taken necessary steps in order to meet this goal. Perez has already invited other strong chess players to the Ateneo to compete and train with the Blue Eagles while Gotel has brought the Lady Eagles to monthly tournaments, some of which are held in Pangasinan and Batangas.

Hitting their stride

The Ateneo Lawn Tennis program is another team that is currently in the midst of its rebuilding phase. The program has stumbled in recent years, with both the Men’s and Women’s teams having finished at the bottom of the standings for the past couple of seasons. However, the Eagles’ road to improvement has picked up this Season 78; in contrast to their woodpusher counterparts, the efforts of the lawn tennis program have started to produce immediate results.

Both the Men and Women’s team have begun racking up several wins apiece to keep a podium finish within reach. However, the road to achieving these results was not all fun and games for the Lawn Tennis program. Considering that its allotted budget is one of the smallest among the UAAP-accredited Ateneo teams, the Eagles have had to spend wisely in order to ensure their progress.

To begin with, they elected to bring in the number one ranked player in the Philippines, Patrick-John Tierro, as head coach. “Coach PJ really helped a lot in motivating us during practices,” says Team Captain Ino Canlas. He adds that Tierro’s wisdom of the sport has also been extremely helpful for the team. Another crucial ingredient to the Eagles’ recipe for success was hiring physical therapist Dane Javier.

These latest improvements to the program have played a big part in its development. The renovation of the outdoor courts have also proven to be extremely convenient for the teams, as it has made their training sessions more efficient, and more frequent practices possible.

Finally, the recruitment of two young, but capable, rookies has also proven to be invaluable. The addition of two new Men’s players in Luke Flores and Marcen Gonzales and three new Women’s players in Alexis Maclean, Jana Pages, and Rocio Climent has really helped take some pressure off of the veterans and has given the teams a much-needed boost. “Big factor talaga yung bago naming rookies (Our rookies have been a big factor),” Canlas says. “It made our lineup very deep.”

Having made all these improvements with regards to staff, facilities, and recruits, the rest of the process came down to the players themselves. An increased training regimen aimed at developing the players’ skills and fitness was implemented. As of 2016, both teams have been training three hours a day, five days a week—a regimen that has undoubtedly helped the players compete with several of the UAAP’s powerhouse teams.

The relative success of the Lawn Tennis and Chess teams has shown that these programs are finally finding their long-sought stability. And although the Ateneo may still have some athletic programs that are not quite as developed, these two teams endeavor to get better and make their presence felt in an ever-competitive UAAP scene.

As difficult as the road to redemption is for programs such as Chess and Lawn Tennis, these Ateneo sports programs remain optimistic that their ceaseless efforts will someday pay off and lead them to the top.