Bleachers' Brew #366 Fil-Croatian hopes to makes national team

This appears in the Monday, April 1, 2013 edition of the Business Mirror.

Fil-Hrvatski nada da će igrati reprezentacije

(SEE THE ENGLISH TRANSLATION BELOW)
by rick olivares

Što je nogomet?

To počinje kao dječja igra koja se brzo pretvara u strast. On troši mnogo njegovih budnih sati igrati igru ​​pod gorućeg sunca koje bronce svoju kožu. Njegov prvi dodir je super kao njegov na terenu inteligencije. Nadalje, on može završiti i oko prozora. On živi za uzbuđenje bodovanje ciljeva i slušajući urlanje gomile.

Uskoro igra postaje sredstvo da ide na koledž. On igra dobro, a njegova igra privlači pozornost mnogih najboljih škola u Manili. No, osjećaj obitelji, jaka crta filipinski, igra veliku ulogu u njegovoj odluci da ostane u blizini kuće.

Mladi dečko odluči otići na University of West Negros gdje su mnogi od rodnom Barotac Nuevo također su se odlučili otići.

Ne ubrzo nakon toga, on je izabran za reprezentaciju koja se natječe u 2008 AFC Challenge Cup u Iloilo. To je tamo gdje on dobiva svoj ​​prvi kist s politikom koja je sama omotan oko sporta.

On je kao i mnogi drugi vlak dugo i teško i natjecanja vremena, pridošlice iz Europe letjeti i početi čak i ako nikada nisam trenirao s momčadi. Njegov trener ima povjerenja u njega da su mu ruke vezane.Odluka je donesena na katu.

Nakon tog turnira, on se koncentrira na školi, gdje je također na čelu wnu Mustang na nekoliko lokalnih i regionalnih prvenstva, uključujući nacionalni naslov.

Neposredno prije Under-23 nacionalnog turnir održan u 2011, njegova majka razboli. Njegov brat nije učinio još u svojoj Naravno zdravstva. Njegov otac plaća kao školski instruktor nije dovoljno. Sada igra je zauzela drugo značenje, on će iskoristiti svoj talent da zaradite novac platiti za diže bolničkih računa. Njegovi naknade dok je igrao za wnu i za pomoć Negros momčad, ali to nije dovoljno.

Ali to nije tako jednostavno. On želi da odgovaraju za rodnom gradu momčad u Iloilo, ali je postrojilo se u susjednoj i suparnik Bacolod gdje je otišao u školu.

Kad je rezultati protiv rodnog tima, postoje fizičke prijetnje o njegovoj osobi i on se zove svaki ispisati ime u knjizi. No, jedna riječ koja se ističe je "izdajnik". Nakon Bacolod osvaja nastupni Pod-23 naslov, jedan od njegovih trenera kao mladić ga doziva: "Jeste li zadovoljni s onim što si učinio?"

On to ne razumije. On nije samo Iloilo porijeklom nije igrao za momčad rodnom gradu. Tu su i drugi u National Capital Region momčadi. Tu su i drugi iz Dumaguete također igrao za Bacolod ili negdje drugdje. Oni su bili poredani postoji jer se dogodilo da se studira tamo (pravila dopuštaju takav).

No, nogomet je religija u njegovom rodnom gradu Barotac Nuevo. Za mnoge, on je samo počinio svetogrđe igrajući za svoje suparnike preko mora.

Sljedeće godine, BEDIĆ igra za Pachanga, momčad sastavljena od igrača iz Iloilo, Bacolod, Africi i Manila. Oni osvojiti UFL je divizija 2 time zarađivati ​​promociju na najvišoj razini nacionalnog nogometa Capital Region. No, klub je prodao Diliman FC i igrači su se raspršili diljem nogometnog krajolika. On ostaje s Pachanga, ali se uglavnom klupu kao što je prednost za igrače koji su došli preko od Diliman.

On troši malo više od pola sezone u nogometnom čistilištu da je klupa prije nego što je objavljen u rodni klub, Stallion, gdje je odmah čini njegova prisutnost osjeća.

Sada on ima priliku igrati i pokazati ono što on može učiniti zajedno s njihovim utvrđenim zvijezdama poput Rubena Doctora i Rufo Sanchezom. On se nada da je redoviti dovoljno za njega pokazali svoj ​​talent.

On je jednom igrao na reprezentaciju i bio je vrlo sretan zbog iskustva. Danas, s naklonosti Filipinaca temelju inozemstvo, ne postoji domaća igrač počinje. Ni kultni Chieffy Caligdong, junak mnogih igri. Nema koherentan program za razvoj homegrowns koji su često rekli da se zavalite i uživajte u iskustvu jer Europljani su puno bolje. To ga irks kao što to čini i mnoge druge, na ne bude dao priliku.

Njegov brat, sada inozemstvu počinju svoju karijeru kao skrbnik, zna Jovin je sumnjama i kaže mu da počne gledati na budućnost.

Ali BEDIĆ voli sport previše prestati sada. On kaže da ima još nekoliko godina, a onda će on znati da li je on stvarno je namijenjena za predstavljati svoju zemlju.

-------------------------------

Fil-Croatian hopes to play national team

by rick olivares

What is football?

It starts out as a child’s game that quickly turns into a passion. He spends much of his waking hours playing the game under the burning sun that bronzes his skin. His first touch is superb as his on-field intelligence. Furthermore, he can finish in and around the box. He lives for the thrill of scoring goals and hearing the roar of the crowd.

Soon the game becomes a means to go to college. He plays well and his game draws the attention of many top schools in Manila. But the sense of family, a strong trait of the Filipino, plays a major part in his decision to stay close to home.

The young lad chooses to go to the University of West Negros where many from his hometown of Barotac Nuevo have also chosen to go.

Not soon after, he is selected to the national team that is competing in the 2008 AFC Challenge Cup in Iloilo. It is there where he gets his first brush with the politics that has wrapped itself around the sport.

He like many others train long and hard and by competition time, newcomers from Europe fly in and start even if they’ve never trained with the team. His coach confides in him that his hands are tied. The decision has been made upstairs.

After that tournament, he concentrates on school where he also leads the WNU Mustangs to several local and regional championships including a national title.

Right before the Under-23 national tourney held in 2011, his mother falls ill. His brother isn’t done yet in his health care course. His father’s salary as a school instructor isn’t enough. Now the game has taken a different meaning, he’s going to use his talent to earn money to pay for the rising hospital bills. His allowances while playing for WNU and for the Negros team help but it isn’t enough.

But it isn’t that easy. He wants to suit up for his hometown team in Iloilo but has been lined up in neighboring and rival Bacolod where he has gone to school.

When he scores against his hometown team, there are physical threats on his person and he is called every unprintable name in the book. But the one word that stands out is “traitor”. After Bacolod wins the Inaugural Under-23 title, one of his coaches as a youngster calls him out, “Are you happy with what you’ve done”?

He doesn’t understand it. He isn’t the only Iloilo native not playing for his hometown team. There are others in the National Capital Region squad. There are others from Dumaguete also playing for Bacolod or elsewhere. They were lined up there because they happened to be studying there (the rules allow such).

But football is a religion in his hometown of Barotac Nuevo. For many, he just committed sacrilege by playing for their rivals across the sea.

The following year, Bedic plays for Pachanga, a team composed of players from Iloilo, Bacolod, Africa, and Manila. They win the UFL’s Division 2 thereby earning promotion to the top level of National Capital Region football. But the club is sold to Diliman FC and the players are scattered across the football landscape. He remains with Pachanga but is mostly benched as there’s a preference for the players who came over from Diliman.

He spends a little over half a season in the football purgatory that is the bench before he is released to his hometown club, Stallion, where he immediately makes his presence felt.

Now he has a chance to play and show what he can do alongside their established stars like Ruben Doctora and Rufo Sanchez. He hopes it’s regular enough for him to showcase his talent.

He once played on the national team and he was quite happy for the experience. Nowadays, with the predilection for Filipinos based overseas, there is no homegrown player starting. Not even the iconic Chieffy Caligdong, the hero of many a game. There is no coherent program to develop homegrowns who are oft told to sit back and enjoy the experience because the Europeans are much better. It irks him as it does many others at not being given a chance.

His brother, now abroad beginning his career as a caregiver, knows of Jovin’s misgivings and tells him to begin to look at the future.

But Bedic loves the sport too much to quit now. He says he has a few more years and then he’ll know if he’s really meant for to represent his country.

- 0 -

Happy April Fool's Day!!!!! 

What’s in a name? Bedic. Bedich. Yes, that’s how some folks pronounce Jovin’s surname as if he were from the Balkan states and not from Barotac Nuevo, Iloilo.

So if you’re wondering about the headline “Fil-Croatian hopes to play for national team” – it’s an April Fool’s Day joke of sorts. Only the headline and the photo is the joke while Jovin’s story is not.

This was an idea that Bob Guerrero and I hatched a few weeks ago and is our way of saying, “You don’t have to look beyond the Philippine shores all the time for talent. There’s a lot of it here in the Philippines.”

There are players like Patrick Deyto, Jason Cordova, Jerry Barbaso, Ruben Doctora, and Bedic to name a few who deserve to be “inspected” (to use the football term). That and be given equal chances as well.

Now, we hope that we caught the attention of the powers that be.