(3RD of nine parts)
After securing victory in the premier amateur basketball competition in the country, what does Coach Joe Lipa have in store for his encore?
He goes back to coaching UNO High School in downtown Manila. At this point, when coaches are riding on the crest of their success, most teachers of the game would level up to seek greener pastures.
But not CJL, who had his heart set on teaching the game at the grassroots level, where he is needed. His ties with UNO High’s Dr. Jose Yu Siek Pong, a revered servant-leader in the academe, who at the same time was a great sportsman as well.
The mid-80s was a time in Philippine hoops history when the phrase “transformational coaching” was unheard of.
Teachers of the game from the old school of thought just went about the things that were passed on to them, cascading it to their willing wards. And CJL was one of them and then some.
Not only CJL was brilliant with his Xs and Os, but he too turned out to become a transformational coach of the highest order, once he began to understand the way his student/athletes’ brains worked and the way he made them believe in themselves to make them better people on and off the court.
It was at UNO High School he taught his wards to master their respective mindsets. He convinced them they could overcome their fears. And thereby find their purpose and discover meaning in their life.
CJL reinforced the value of hard work and veered them away from procrastination and in the process gained gritty discipline.
The burly disciplinarian did away forcefully, with Team UNO High’s bad habits and introduced new, good, and fulfilling attitudes.
Best ask the trio of court general and ring leader Jake Sy, who was the team PG, and then rookie, Richard Te Peng who eventually ended his UNO HS tenure with two Manila Tiong Lian chips (’86 and ’89) under his belt.
Then, of course, Eugene Tsai, team captain of that ‘86 squad who captured the school’s first-ever Tiong Lian title. Coach Joe said, he was as meek as a lamb and would not waBut his turn around came, when CJL sent him home in tears, saying, “I can’t do anything about you anymore.
It will just be wasting both our time.” But Captain E.T. persevered and became a ‘ferocious lion’ almost overnight, in the words of his proud mentor.
Which eventually became the rallying point of their first Tiong Lian championship run against the highly favored Chiang Kai Shek quintet, helmed by former PBA pro, Sunny Co, ushering in the year 1986, also known as the year of Coach Joe Lipa. (To be continued)
(Sonny “Peter” Regalado Lopez, is currently a player development coach, marketing communications consultant, and book author. He collaborated with coach Joe Lipa in publishing Basketball 101, a book that aims to coach the coaches and provide reference material for Physical Education teachers in the K to 12 curricula. The 53-year-old Lopez is a San Beda College, Manila, BSC Marketing Management graduate, who currently is working on publishing the memoirs of great coaches Joe Lipa, SJLC’s Larry Albano, and San Beda’s, late Edmundo ‘Ato’ Badolato, all in coffee table book format.)