"X", A Spider. An Exclusive talk with Kristian Guerrero
"Basta pakilagay na lang na ako yung taong ayaw talaga ng publicity haha! Nagpainterview ako para sa ultimate at dahil ikaw yon." Kristian said when I asked him for an interview after being acquired by San Jose Spiders of the prestigious Ultimate Frisbee league in the US, The American Ultimate Disc League or AUDL.
Boracay Open 2014 was the first time that I saw Kristian Guerrero (Xtian or X for his teammates and friends) play. Watch out for Dragons player #3, he will give you a lot of amazing highlights for your portfolio. A friend of mine said before the tournament started. And then the 2014 Nationals came. Again, X put on an amazing show. But, during last years Manila Spirits is where X really caught my attention. The guy is special. I then did my research, asking a few friends from the ultimate community if who Xtian Guerrero really is. But during the WCBU 2015 training of Boracay Dragons-Philippine team where I personally met and known Xtian as a friend. During Worlds in Dubai he showed his passion for the sport of Ultimate Frisbee, carrying the team to win Bronze for our country (He is also the MVP and most assist in WCBU 2007 in Brazil) His passion, hard work and dedication is so contagious that even I, a non-player did the best I can to cover the journey of Dragons-Philippines as best as I could.
X is a big time player here in our country on the field, but he is also one of the biggest characters in Ultimate after parties. You will see him holding the mic on one hand, pumping up the crowd with a bottle of Pale Pilsen on the other. He is a star in Philippine Ultimate.
Now, a new door opened up for X. A big opportunity for him to show what he is capable of doing on and off the field. AUDL. A professional league that every Ultimate player around the globe is dreaming to be a part of. And for the first time in history, a homegrown Filipino athlete finally made it to the big leagues.
I asked this very humble filipino ultimate athlete a few quick questions before he went back to work in URJ Crane Lake Camp in Massachusetts. And this is what we talked about.
Who gave you the word that you will officially be playing with the San Jose Spiders in AUDL?
- A friend of mine from the US who works for Boon Philippines asked the owner of San Jose Spiders if I could play for them. The owner didn't have any idea who I was, of course. Then my good friend Jolas Larracas said, "He's one of the top players in the Philippines and he played in a lot of big tournaments already. He also plays for Boracay Dragons." I think that's what got Andrew's attention. That's how it all started. Andrew e-mailed me asking about my interest in playing for the Spiders. I was like, "Is this for real!?" Nagpakipot pa ako konti pero syempre hindi ko sinabi hahaha :D So it was kind of official already back then. But, I was in the US for work. I needed to ask permission first from my boss for me to be able to play with the Spiders. It was a long process because I have loads of stuff to do here and I can't just go out and play. But, eventually after a long talk with my boss, he finally allowed me to go to the west coast. After that, I relayed everything to Jolas, who then relayed word to Andrew, then that's it! Andrew signed me up with the Spiders for this season. And of course, without my good friend from Boon Technical Clothing (Aldwin Ibanez) and Jolas Larracas, hindi mangyayari lahat to.
Is this a dream come true for Xtian?
- Mixed emotions, to be honest. I was looking forward to playing for a club team in the US and not in the PRO league. I've been talking a lot with the captains of Doublewide and they were really good to me. I missed the actual tryouts because my passport got stuck in the US embassy for 3 weeks. They even asked me to play with them in one of the tournaments. But they said, "This is not an assurance that you're gonna make it to the team. But, we can consider this as your tryout." I said, "Yeah, of course!" I told them that I will work really hard to earn that spot. So that means that AUDL was never really in the picture. I got really delayed coming to the US for work that's why I couldn't make any demands from my boss. So, the dream of playing for that club team, a dream I had for the past couple of years got washed away. Then, the opportunity to play for the most prestigious Ultimate tournament in the world came. So, tatanggi pa ba ako?! hahaha :D Pero to be honest, yung puso ko nasa club team pa din. :) Big dreams will follow, and I'm pretty sure about it. :)
You are the first homegrown Filipino athlete to play in this prestigious Ultimate Frisbee league in the US;
What does this mean to you?
- It means a lot to me, of course. But, it means a lot more to the Philippine Ultimate community. Laki lang ng pressure sa akin for sure because I need to set the standard (for Filipino athletes). So, I'm not really thinking of doing this to be the "first Filipino" who's able to play in this league. It's more of representing my country - to be able to show to the world what Philippine Ultimate is all about.
Where are you right now? And what keeps you busy,
aside from chasing plastics in the US?
- I am currently working in URJ Crane Lake Camp in Massachusetts. I'll be here 'til the first week of September then I will go straight to Hong Kong to work for a company called Asia Pacific Adventure. I'm a well respected outdoor instructor at the moment. But, when I'm not doing it, I'm a rugged rock climber/lasenggo, rugby boy, baby sitter at pwede din tubero :D You can easily see me at the climbing gym whenever I'm not chasing plastics. :)
What are the best aspects of your game
that can contribute to the Spiders?
- I'm a team player. That's all I can say.
Can you tell us a brief story
about your Ultimate career in the Philippines.
- I started playing in my University with my mountaineering org-mates. Sunken Pleasure's very own Danny Dematera saw me one day walking in my college and invited me to play with them in the finals in one of the local leagues (in the Philippines). I was like, "what? are you serious?" Then I laughed. I said, "I never tossed a disc before and you're inviting me to play?" Then he gave me a good laugh as well and said, "Just run. I will throw the disc and you'll just have to run and catch it." haha :) But I ended up not playing. The following month, it was the anniversary of the UP Mountaineers. They invited me to go to the field and they taught me how to throw a disc. After that, I joined them the following league, which I really enjoyed.
One thing that made me stay and continue playing the sport is the the Spirit of the Game. It's a self-officiating game. You're talking about honesty and integrity which for me is really cool. :) So I kept on playing for my local club team Sunken Pleasure until I got a chance to play for the National team. Then after that I got an invite to play for the mighty Boracay Dragons. Then now San jose Spiders :D galing noh? haha.. parang pelikula lang.
Now, you will be playing alongside Beau Kittredge
in San Jose Spiders. How crazy is that?
- I'm a big fan of Seattle Sockeye because when I started playing Ultimate, they would almost always finish 1st. If not, they're always on the podium. Then big names like Ben Wiggins and some Sockeye players went to the Philippines to play for Manila Spirits. Ben was like a mentor to us. But, names like Beau? It's a privilege, definitely. Who would have thought that I'll be playing with him on the same team? haha :D He's definitely one of toughest player when you talk about Ultimate. He jumped over a guy. He can sky. He can throw. He can RUN. He can do crazy layouts and I think above all, he is one of the best spirited guy in the sport right now. So I'm so honored to play in the same team with him. I'm just hoping that we'll be able to build that chemistry right away. Parang pag tinatapon ni Heyman yung disc kay Gabbey… ooops, baliktad pala :) Mas magaling nga pala magthrow si Gabbey kaysa kay Heyman hahaha :D peace pards. Ay actually tama! Pag tinatapon ni Heyman yung disc sa ground hahahaha :D
Words for our countrymen.
This is a very exciting and proud moment
for Philippine Ultimate.
- I think I just got lucky to participate in this prestigious event because it just so happened that I was already in the US. And, the opportunity was just right in front of me. I pushed myself so hard to make it to this level. So, what I can say to my fellow Frisbee players in the Philippines is that, "Pag may oportunidad, sunggaban niyo na. You may not be the best player in the country, but if you set your mind to it then everything will fall into place." Nakaka-inspire ba? parang tanga lang noh? hahaha..
Peace out.
It only shows that hard work, patience, staying humble and being passionate about the things that you love can bring you great things in this world. X is the example of that. We hope that this wonderful thing that happened to Xtian's life will inspire you to do great things on the field and off the field at the same time.
So, watch out world! X will give you a pretty damn good show this AUDL season! You can count it!
Thank you Xtian for this exclusive PUI interview!
And best of luck on your amazing Ultimate Career!
- Don Laczi
Until then. More images to share, More stories to tell... It's #AllAboutU!
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