Bleachers' Brew #259 Heaven is a pitch Part 2

This column appears in the May 9, 2011 edition of the Business Mirror.

Heaven is a pitch Part 2

words and pics by rick olivares

If you’re looking for an imposing façade with gilded gates then you’re going to miss West Negros University. The main entrance is next to a mini mart and fronted by several internet shops with siren call of “gaming center” that should be a red flag for truancy and indolence. You only realize the school is right there because of a streamer announcing high school enrollment in ongoing.

When you enter, the first thing you see if the administration building. Turn a corridor, then you see the pitch which is right in the middle of the school and parallel to two basketball courts.

West Negros University (WNU) has made a name for itself for those two sports. Among many others, the university has produced former pro basketball players Yves Dignadice and Mike Mustre. There are also former national football players like Robert Cañedo, Neil Calinawagan, and Joshua Fegidero as well as current Azkals Eduard Sacapaño and Raymark Palmes.

What makes the WNU even more remarkable is the size of the school. With three other big schools in Bacolod and the “more prestigious” being the University of St. La Salle, the student population has shrunk. Yet steadfast in their philosophies of shaping character and instilling a sense of discipline, the Mustangs, as the school’s varsity teams are known by, continue to defy the bigger programs to romp away with titles.

The cabinet inside the school’s athletics department is overflowing with trophies that many of them are just placed on the floor. When you enter, the coaches seem almost embarrassed. “Sorry sa kalat,” says with no trace of haughtiness as he scurries away.

Aside from WNU being a perennial contender in the Negros Occidental Private Schools Sports Cultural Educational Association (NOPSSCEA), my interest in writing about the school is primarily because of two people -- Nonoy Baclao and Norman Fegidero Jr.

Baclao became a household name in Manila and the rest of the country after transferring to Ateneo de Manila where he helped the Blue Eagles to two UAAP titles. He was also a part of the Philippine Patriots that captured the first ever Asean Basketball Championship before he went on to become the number one overall pick of the last Philippine Basketball Association draft.

Before he chose basketball as his primary sport, Baclao tried his hand at goalkeeping under Fegidero. In hindsight, that is probably one reason why he became so adept at protecting Ateneo’s basket and sending back errant shots.

Fegidero, a former national player who led the Philippines to a semifinals berth in the 1991 Southeast Asian Games in Manila alongside Rudy del Rosario, Elmer Bedia, Adolfo Alicante, Hersey Salmon, and Nonoy Carpio among others, has been the minder in charge of the winning football program of WNU.

The school’s football pitch is not even of standard size. It’s a small field but it’s located right in the middle of the school as if to say the beautiful game and the football team are the centerpiece of the school.

The size, Fegidero says, is not a problem. All the better to work on the short game and spacing rather than an emphasis on long ball play. An astute student of the game, Fegidero, who once played striker first for WNU and later for the University of Negros Occidental-Recoletos, learned much of his game philosophy from his coaches -- Argentinean Carlos Cannero and German Eckard Krautchon. He closely studies FC Barcelona and their style of play which mirrors much of the game he espouses.

“It sounds like a cliché, but for me the team always comes first,” said Fegidero who is a stickler for discipline.

The Philippine Football Federation’s Red Avelino holds Fegidero in high regards. “He leads by example,” said Avelino. “You should see him leading his team during training.”

In his brief stint as national team head coach during the 2008 AFC Challenge Cup Qualifiers held in Iloilo, Fegidero brooked no brattiness from his players. He threatened to throw out players who insisted on preferential treatment or coming to play in their own time. He kowtowed to no one – not from the Philippine Football Federation officials who insisted on pampering the Fil-foreigners to the soccer dads who think they know better than the coach.

But after the tournament when the Philippines didn’t advance to the next stage because of the goal differential, Fegidero walked away. “It wasn’t worth it when you have so much politicking and no clear program for the development of the national team and football.”

With West Negros, he is ironclad in his approach to handling his kids. When he recruits, tops on his list is a person’s attitude and speed. “Skill and the technical aspect can be taught and learned, but the first two is something that not every one possesses.”

Aside from WNU, Fegidero brings that discipline and order with his coaching the Bacolod team in the ongoing PFF Suzuki Under-23 National Cup. All the coaches wear the same type of clothing with the same color. Everything is in order and properly organized. And every one has to be on time and play their roles. “Business-like” is the term to best describe them. And I for one admire them for their sense of order and discipline.

When Joshua Belayo, a talented Fil-American out of Sweden who only recently moved to Bacolod, was not on the same page with the team, Fegidero set him straight. Belayo took the message to heart and began to play sweet music with teammates. Alongside strikers Jovin Bedic and Adrian Dolino, the trio has led Bacolod to four consecutive and convincing wins over their opposition. As for the Fil-Am? He has notched a tournament-leading seven goals in four matches. And to underscore his point, Fegidero observed, “All it requires is a change of attitude and things will become easier for you.”

Although WNU’s basketball court is decorated with streamers celebrating the Mustangs basketball team, the football field has no tell tale signs of a winning tradition.

“Simple lang dapat,” he smiles. “There is no need to call attention to yourself. Football may be a tough game but that is where there is ‘fair play’. You have to conduct yourself like a gentleman.

Fegidero pauses and looks out at the damp football field in the center of the school as a light rain falls. The game is his life and his teams’ continued excellence remains his pursuit aside from molding them into good people. It’s a must that they graduate and not just play football. “The game has been good to me. Now I am giving back to it.”

There’s practice at 4pm. He will go out there in the rain and lead by example. He smiles then enters the athletics office to get ready.

With Norman Fegidero Jr. at the West Negros University football field. After a semester in WNU, Fegidero went to Manila to coach at the Ateneo Football Center alongside the late Chris Monfort who also recruited him to play for Ateneo-Swift in a commercial league. It was there where he became teammates with Ompong Merida. That friendship also bore fruit as later, Fegidero sent Neil Calinawagan to Merida where he was a crucial piece to Ateneo's football dominance in the early 2000s.