THE AMBIGUOUS state of collegiate sports due to the COVID-19 pandemic has prevented senior athletes from fulfilling their playing years in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP). Given the league’s indefinite hiatus, graduating players Carmen So, Jazmin Chua, and Marga Delos Reyes face their bittersweet realities as they blueprint the next chapter of their lives outside the UAAP.
Court advantage
Hailing from Assumption College, So has brought her extensive on-court experience to the Ateneo Women’s Lawn Tennis Team (AWLTT) as she competed in various prominent high school competitions such as the Inter-School Tennis Association. As one of two team captains of the AWLTT this year, So has remained an asset for the Lady Eagles since her debut in UAAP Season 80, where she contributed to the team’s silver medal run.
Alongside So’s first runner-up finish, her debut match victory against the University of the Philippines’ Monivic Santos remains one of her favorite memories as she was introduced to the grind of collegiate tennis. “My most memorable game would be my first one [in] my rookie year. I had a three-setter match, and I was super happy that I was able to pull through,” she proudly shared.
In her sophomore year, So ushered the team to a bronze medal finish. Although the AWLTT missed out on the elusive championship in both seasons, So is content that the team did their best to win the gold medal. “It was painful because we lost, [and] we’ve never won [the] UAAP [championship] before. But I’m satisfied cause there’s not much more we could’ve done,” she shared.
Despite experiencing an unceremonious end to her UAAP career because of the COVID-19 pandemic, So continues to prioritize team morale in the AWLTT. “This year has really been more about getting the team together and bonding rather than the actual tennis aspect of it,” So stated.
Aside from her team captain duties, So maintains a healthy lifestyle by walking or biking at home daily. Without the demands of on-site practice, she has focused on her studies while balancing her product marketing internship with KonsultaMD, a telehealth membership service that provides customers access to licensed doctors.
Moving forward, So plans to forego her tennis career and apply as a non-degree student next semester to take up various science classes for her medical school applications. “I’m trying to figure out what I wanna do in the future. I’m a management major, minoring in IT. But I’m looking into taking science classes next semester, and maybe preparing for the NMAT [National Medical Admission Test] and I don’t know maybe med school,” she shared. Equipped with unbending discipline and determination gained from her student-athlete journey, So is ready to ace life outside of sports.
The swimming pool underdog
Despite competing alongside star swimmers like Chloe Daos and Raegan Gavino, Chua has emerged as a key swimmer in the FAST Ateneo Women’s Swimming Team’s (FAST) three-peat dynasty. Throughout her UAAP career, Chua has won multiple accolades such as topping the Women’s 400-meter Medley Relay in UAAP Season 82 and garnering silver medals in the Women’s 200-meter Breaststroke in Seasons 81 and 82.
Among Chua’s well-decorated seasons, the Lady Eagle treasures UAAP Season 82 the most as she won multiple medals despite her rushed preparations for the season. Because Chua lives in Caloocan, she was unable to consistently train for UAAP Season 82 until residing in the campus dormitory in August. “I only had a month and a half to train [while] my [teammates] and competitors [had] six to eight months. But by God’s grace, I was able to represent [Ateneo] and win silver for both my individual [events], and nakapag-relay ako (I got to join the relay),” she proudly shared.
With her newfound free time during the lockdown, Chua continues to exercise regularly while also developing her various passions like singing and acting. On top of these activities, she is also building up her work experiences after accomplishing an internship with PurpleClick, a digital marketing agency.
Although saddened that the pandemic halted her UAAP journey, Chua acknowledges that she must draw the curtains on her swimming career to prepare for her future endeavors. After graduating, Chua hopes to pursue a career in digital marketing and eventually help her parents out by managing their family business, Comcard Printing Enterprises. “I have to give back to my parents. They’re the reasons I’m here right now. Afterward, we’ll see nalang where the world will take me,” she said.
While looking back on her UAAP journey, she takes solace in fulfilling her dreams of competing for Ateneo and graduating as an undefeated champion. “Representing Ateneo was one of my greatest achievements, [and] it was only just a dream. We [FAST seniors] wanted to be able to start and graduate [as] champions, so we were super happy and proud when we won [Season 82],” she said with pride.
As she steps out of the pool and into a world beyond the UAAP, Chua is determined to exhibit excellence in her future endeavors that rivals her swimming prowess.
From pool to track
Exemplifying her athleticism in multiple sports, Delos Reyes simultaneously represented FAST and the Ateneo Women’s Track and Field Team (AWTFT) in her freshman year. During her first two years of playing for Ateneo, she took home the UAAP Season 80 Women’s Swimming Championship and bagged gold and bronze medals in the 2017 Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association (PATAFA) League.
First drawn to the sport of swimming at the age of 10, Delos Reyes ventured into triathlon two years later and has competed in several high profile competitions since then. As a triathlete, she was able to compete in the Asian Triathlon Confederation Championships in Hatsukaichi, Japan back in April 2016—which she considers as her most notable achievement in her high school career.
With her background in long distance running from triathlon, Delos Reyes naturally developed an interest in track and field, and she eventually joined Miriam College’s track and field team and qualified for the NCR Regional Athletic Meet from her sophomore year to her senior year in high school.
After a successful high school career, Delos Reyes initially planned to forego sports and dedicate her university life to academics. However, unable to let go of the student-athlete lifestyle, she ended up joining FAST and the AWTFT in her freshman year. Struggling to balance two sports in her sophomore year, Delos Reyes eventually stepped away from the pool to focus on one sport. With her attention solely on track and field, she trained more for her 800-meter run and lessened the competitive pressure she experienced during the season.
While Delos Reyes prepared for her third UAAP Track and Field season, she and the AWTFT faced multiple postponements and cancellations. In the end, all her training and efforts were met by the cancellation of UAAP Season 83 last December 2020. “It was really frustrating because I saw how much effort my batchmates put into training because we really wanted our second to the last year to count,” Delos Reyes remarked.
With no scheduled physical tournaments in the near future, Delos Reyes eventually decided to let go of her sports career to focus on academics and internships. Given her positive experience during her internship with bull•ish—an independent marketing agency for local brands—Delos Reyes plans to look for other job opportunities that offer more flexible work set-ups that deviate from the usual nine-to-five office hours. Despite retiring from competitive track and field, she continues to workout in order to escape the stress of school and work while also developing her newfound hobby of painting.
Although her UAAP career was cut short, Delos Reyes still cherishes the short time she had with her teammates in competing and bonding together as a family. Along with these memories, the values she learned through sports, such as patience and perseverance, are what she will carry with her as she steps into her life outside the University. “Sports really helped me know who I am because I can see the values that sports instilled in me, like patience and perseverance. I don’t know how else I would’ve formed all of those values other than my sports,” she shared.
Soaring beyond
Although So, Chua, and Delos Reyes were unable to represent Ateneo one last time, their stay in the Blue Eagle’s nest has helped them spread their wings and prepare for their flight beyond sports.
