Jeric Fortuna: From Growling Tiger to
Flying Tiger
by rick olivares
Last weekend, during the opening
of the Under-25 Men’s tournament of the Breakdown Basketball Invitationals
between Ateneo and UP, there was a familiar onlooker in the crowd. It was Jeric
Fortuna who was present to support his youngest brothers, Migs, who was playing
for the Blue Eagles’ Team B.
Jeric has decided to hang up his
high tops and has shifted careers. The elder Fortuna is now training and
studying to be a commercial pilot.
“Even as far back as in high
school, I was already thinking of becoming a pilot,” shared Jeric. “Of course,
basketball is my first love and I gave a lot of years and made a lot of
sacrifices for the game. But there are always other interests.”
After his sterling career at the
University of Santo Tomas where he led the Growling Tigers to a UAAP final
slot, Fortuna spent a year in the Asean Basketball League with the San Miguel
Beermen before applying for the PBA Draft. Selected in the second round, 14th
overall by the Barako Bull Energy, Fortuna found himself bouncing around from
team to team getting very little playing time. He suited up for four different
PBA ballclubs – Barako Bull Energy, San Miguel, Phoenix Fuel Masters,
GlobalPort – before making a return to the ABL with Alab Pilipinas.
Come October 2017, Fortuna
decided it was time to make the jump. “Even when I playing, I always thought
about taking up flying. I was able to get onto teams but the minutes were few.
I told myself, maybe it is time to give this other dream a chance. Lalo na,
while I am young and can still do it.”
His entire family supported the
career shift. “My parents were so supportive because it is a very nice
profession and it was for good reasons. It is stable and with good benefits.
Plus, you get to travel.”
“There was always a thrill even
as a passenger on a plane,” recounted Fortuna. “I would wonder how the pilots
fly a plane, what it took to keep a plane up in the air. All these related
things.”
Right now, Fortuna is going to
flight school at Omni Aviation beside Clark International Airport where he has
logged about 70 hours of flight time.
“The first time I flew a plane, I
was so nervous,” admitted Fortuna of his maiden flight. “My flight instructor
allowed me to do the take off. It was a small plane and malakas yung
turbulence. But I managed it pretty well. Then my flight instructor did spins
and other stunts. It was an awesome experience.”
If all goes well, Fortuna can
finish flight school by 2019. “When you finish school there is what they call
“instrument rating” where you learn how to fly based on instruments alone. Then
after that, there is another license for commercial flying. And we’ll take it
from there.”
Fortuna disclosed that he had no
regrets as to how his basketball career turned out. “I have to be very
thankful. I got to play in the UAAP, the ABL, and the PBA. I got to win
championships and play alongside amazing teammates. I got to experience
something that not many people do. So, I have a lot to be thankful for.”
And now, Jeric Fortuna is aiming
for something higher.
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