This appears in the May 2, 2011 edition of the Business Mirror.
An Englishman in Dipolog
by rick olivares
The chatter is distinctly Visayan and other local dialects. You hear them in tones of anger, annoyance, disbelief, and joy that depend on what happens on the pitch and more so when the referee’s shrill whistle calls a stop to the action. Then there’s one voice, lilting in its elegance never mind if there’s a trace of exasperation punctuated with a “bloody” and choice words inserted here and there.
Ah. That’s Reginald Jukes, the Nottingham, England native and formerly of Her Majesty’s Armed Forces based in Germany. “A Forest fan,” he says shrugging his shoulders. “What else can it be?”
He gives me a “no-you-can’t-be-you-sly-devil” look when he finds out that not only do I not have a care in the world for Nottingham Forest FC but also root for Liverpool.
I smile. “But,” I say stopping him in his tracks before any murderous designs take form in his mind. “I do know Brian Clough.”
Jukes shrugs again. “You saw the film?”
I nod. “I also have the book.”
The Englishman has been a resident of Dipolog City for the past decade. While on holiday some 25 years ago, he met a girl. “It’s always about a girl,” he says. “I fell in love, left, came back, married her, and now… I make Dipolog City my home.”
But the humidity? The heat?
“In England, everyday is a wet day. It’s a wet Tuesday. A wet Wednesday. You know what I bloody mean? Life is easier here in the Philippines. So much more easier. And I like it. Better the heat and the beaches than the rain and the fog.”
I flash him a smile that drips with national pride.
“So how is it teaching the local lads about football?” I ask.
Jukes rolls his eyes. “I try and I try. But these are good lads here.”
The last time his Dipolog team played at the Agro Field in Davao City, his Under-16 team beat the home side 7-1 with Jerry Barbaso in the lineup. “We like to score seven goals every time we’re over here.” His team earlier routed Cagayan de Oro 7-1.
The English expat played club football in England and in Germany. “Not in the highest level because I was in the Army. Nevertheless, I played.”
I asked him how his side lost 3-nil to Davao the previous day. “Oh, I can tell you a thing or two about referees. The game has improved. The players’ skills have improved. But the referees are the dead-end of evolution. They have not improved since the time I was playing.”
What has certainly improved is his team’s performance.
Since taking over the coaching reigns in the past two years, his side finished second in the CHED and the PRISAA football tournaments. And Dipolog also qualified for another late stage of football tournament. Now they were on the cusp of landing a quarterfinals berth in the PFF Suzuki U-23 National Cup.
Jukes’ boys began their campaign by topping the West Mindanao Cluster Qualifiers with a 2-1-0 record. In three matches, they scored 13 goals and gave up only two.
Now on the third and final day of the Mindanao Regionals and the team needing the three full points in order to advance, Jukes addressed his anxious players. “Are you prepared to go to Wembley,” he ventured.
Dipolog forward Michael Tulang began to applaud and the rest followed while some chimed in with hoots and whistles. “We didn’t come all the way here to see the sights. (nods from the players) We came here to qualify so that we may pop the bubbly. (answers of ‘yeah!”) We’re playing for our city, our people, and ourselves. (now everyone is stoked).
“Let’s finish this so I may get back home and watch the replay of the Royal Wedding!”
His players find his English wit and colloquialisms “both cool and funny.”
“I sometimes begin to use ‘bloody ‘ell’ when I speak,” said one player who asked for anonymity. “It can’t be that the Azkals are the only ones with Brits.”
Humor. It plays a large role in Jukes’ coaching and mentoring. It keeps the atmosphere light and everyone loose. “I disagree,” the coach playfully protests. “I believe that they can’t figure out how I speak!”
I ask him if he was doing anything after Saturday’s matches where his side faces North Cotobato in a virtual win-or-go-home scenario. You know, have a beer. Swap war stories. Talk about Brian Clough. “I’m not staying any longer than I need be. I just want to hop on my ride and get back home.”
Home for this Englishman… is in Dipolog City.
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Against North Cotobato, Dipolog struggled big time in the first 20 minutes especially in their finishing. It was only until Jerry Barbaso established himself in the midfield and when the defense stabilized did the tide turn. Jukes’ side scored three goals in the first half and four more in the last 45 minutes to achieve their goal of qualifying. When I asked Jukes what he said to his team when they struggled in the early part, said the coach: “I merely told them to stop missing their shots.”
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