Published: 3:42 pm February 15, 2021 | Updated: 1:56 pm March 18, 2021
๐๐ณ๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐บ ๐๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐ข ๐๐ข๐จ๐ฉ๐ถ๐บ๐ฐ๐ฑ, ๐๐ข๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ช๐จ๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐บ Alex Aguinaldo
Following the postponement of the 6th installment of the LIKE (Life, Interests, Knowledge, and Experience) Talks due to technical difficulties, the event was rescheduled and was eventually launched via Facebook live and MS Teams on February 12 at 6 PM.
Rising basketball star Mr. Rhon Jhay Abarrientos was invited as the guest speaker to discuss the topic regarding sportsmanship, The webinar was hosted by Mr. Allan Kirk Orteza who started the event with an introduction of the guest speaker. Mr. Abarrientos is a student-athlete, rookie, and speedy point guard of FEU Tamaraw Menโs Basketball Team who was also awarded as one of the UAAP Season 79 Juniors Mythical 5 players and a FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup 2019 3-point gold medalist.
To kick off the event, Mr. Abarrientos shared his experiences playing locally and representing the Philippines internationally and said that those were somewhat similar, however, the pressure of playing internationally was all about maintaining the goal of their desired standing. In addition, he also said that competing with foreign players was one of his struggles when he competed in FIBA 3×3.
When asked about the meaning of sportsmanship as an athlete, Mr. Abarrientos expressed his own thought by saying that โIyong sportsmanship kasi para saโkin, ito โyung key for a player like me, kasi hindi ito basta basta.โ He added that values, discipline, and good treatment for other teammates are examples of a skilled playerโs sportsmanship.
In terms of sportsmanship practices and developments, having a good mindset is essential for him. โBefore I sleep, nagp-pray ako, nanghihigi ako ng sign kay God paโno niya ako matutulungan,โ he said. For Mr. Abarrientos, being an athlete is also about encountering different struggles before succeeding.
Moving forward on how sportsmanship affects playing inside the court, he mentioned that what athletes do outside the court reflects on how they play inside the court. Sportsmanship is also a golden rule for him because being professional is important. Additionally, in his last year of playing in high school, leadership and being a good sport is a culture he and his teammates uphold.
Furthermore, he shared that during his rookie years, one of the struggles he had to face was the culture of being belittled and receiving criticisms from his seniors. However, Abarrientos believes that this, together with handling defeats and failures, is all about having a positive mindset and effectively coping up with it.
In his closing statement, Mr. Abarrientos advised the aspiring athletes of the younger generation, โTuloy lang sa pangarap sa buhay, siyempre huwag kakalimutan mag-aral, number one โyan, โdi iyan mawawala, then set a good mindset every dayโฆ Kailangan mo pagtrabahuan โyung gusto mo.โ
To finish the webinar, Mr. Abarrientos was granted a certificate of appreciation. It was also announced that the theme of LIKE Talksโ next installation with Mr. Jayvee Badile will be “The Stories of Students’ Success,” which will be held at 6 PM via MS Teams Live on February 19, 2021.