Hustle of a Dragon

10:17 PM All About U 0 Comments

Training for a National Team is both an honor and burden. These men and Women of Boracay dragons are both blessed and challenged to carry the weight of representing the country for this years WCBU (World Championships of Beach Ultimate) in Royan, France this coming June 18 to 24, 2017. They juggle their time between having fun playing the Game that they all Love; Deal with Pressure to level up, Maturity, fatigue and injuries; the fact that they need to live away from their families for a while -they are handpicked from all over Philippines; and add to those the difficulty of dealing with the Politics of International Relations.

I spent some time with these ladies and gentlemen to try my luck at documenting a portion of their journey.

See how they hustle through all of these for a chance to be champions of their motherland and a chance to rise above everyone on the beach.

-Nico

A common morning scene, Tajji is on his phone while Xtian Guerrero grinds his morning coffee. Tajji actually loves to sleep in his hammock instead of sleeping in a room.

X Guerrero on his morning Coffee routine. X is ussually the first to come out in the mornings.

Karen Cabrera smilingly listens to a conversation of over coffee while Ryu Cabrera Famorcan (Karen and Boboy's kid) also listens.

Ryu and Boboy Famorcan are going out early to buy something for breakfast.

Probably Karen has not slept for the night again. This woman is truly a wonder. She seamlessly balances taking care of the dragons, be a board member or the National Association , be the Chairperson of an International committee, and taking care of Ryu.

The boys never forget to eat well.

Popoy and Jordan are having some crazy time again. These boys have grown very close to each other in this training camp.

The Boracay Dragons loads a boat going to Yapak (Puka Beach). There, they could train on a larger beach. It is on the far end of the island so they went camping for the day.

Yapak Has wider shores but the sand has many pebbles and stone to clear out. The Dragons need to clear the beach of these stones for they could cause an injury.

Qhenjune Villanueva and his collection of stone and pebbles.

Xtian Guerrero helps Boboy famorcan for a warm up stretch. These two have been part of the Dragons that surprised the world in their first WCBU in brazil last 2007.

Kim Parejo (from Mindanao) is still on the edge of his bed.

You can never unsee the beauty of Boracay. Even if you have all your attention at men running and flying over to catch a plastic plate.

The Philippine Men's National Team prepares their own training pitch. the start of every morning session.

Christopher Jude Lee. He was a member of three WCBU Dragons squads, now he takes the helm to prepare these boys for Royan. He is also ready to lay it out of needed be.

The Boracay Dragons on their routine warm up jog.

The dragons helping a Dragon boat team. The Boracay Dragons started out with a group of men who were also rowers.

David "Dada" Liboon (who hails from Dumaguete) releases a backhand.

Jordan Mirafilez (of Valencia, Bukidnon) catches the Disc.

Qhennjune (from Kabankalan, Negros occidental) smiles as he lands on the endzone for a score.

A water break could be the most comforting part of a practice session.

Tajji Pasigna (Dumaguete) smiles as he lands on the powdery white sand.

Sand clad. Jeff "Paloy" dela Cerna (Cebu City) throws a forehand.

Avoid body contact (at least try to). Is one of the points of SOTG (Spirit of the Game). This is the foundation of this sport. I believe it is one of the reasons why this game is so beautiful.

Tajji wipes the white sand off his face after landing head first from a layout bid.

Resting on a shade casted off a coconut. this could be a venue for fun conversations.

Those shades help hide the brightness of the day but certainly not the heat.

Clyde Sullano for a catch. Clyde was a member of Dragons for two Beach Worlds (Brazil, Italy),unfortunate he will not be able to join this time because of knee issues.

Boboy Famorcan sells a fake backhand.

A graceful skying grab. A Sky is an ultimate frisbee term for grabbing the disc high in the air.

A hollow Frisbee Disc stuck on the bamboo stacks at Pearl of the Pacific beach front.

A dislodged toe. Dead toes, bruises, and sprained ankles are typical for these men in this training camp. these and more minor injuries are common because of the intensity they give.

"It's basically a "No in cut" drill."
This is what Jude Lee answered me when he cannot find a good name after I asked him what this drill is called.. its one of the fundamentals these men are practicing.

Dealing with an injury is hard. Dada keeps his attention on his phone. He cannot join in because of an injury after X accidentally landed on him.

Patches of coconut shades.
These serves as the bullpen for these men.

Men shows boys how things are done. The Veteran Boboy Famorcan for a powerful grab over acouple of the Dragons rookies.

"Coach Poppy"
Two time Dragon (Dubai 2015) Kevin "Popoy" Pascua (Palawan) for a defensive slap.

"Shuttle run"
Hellish words for them as they have to do several sets of these almost every practice session.

"Shuttle run"

Hellish words for them as they have to do several sets of these almost every practice session.

After a short dip. These Dragons are back on their smiles and show off the product of putting their bodies on physical challenge almost everyday.

Jordan foolishly does a catwalk on the the break waters showing the seams of his skin colors
(the difference of no sun and months of sun).

Act tough.
Though they are actually a bit tired already.

The comfort of a visit.
Some are lucky to have someone come over. You can see the light in the eyes of these boys when they see faces of loved ones visiting them.

Queue on the showers.
This is actually the laundry area in Boboy and Karen.s place, The Home for some of the boys throughout the training camp.

Everybody can help.
Visitors of the Dragons (AJ and Nadine) helping Boboy prepare lunch for the everybody.

Waiting for food is rare. Most of the time they are called off from naps or resting time to eat. But when they are the ones waiting for food, it's always fun.

Everybody loves to steal a nap all the time.

These boys grew familiar with this house, Boracay and with everybody after weeks of being together everyday.

"Tribal Elders Council"
Pillars of the Boracay Dragons Family converse on an adfternoon about things concerning the preparations. Visa applications is a topic that is hard for everybody all the time.

Karen's work desk.
She is on that seat day in and day out preparing everything. She even sleep in that couch at times (if she sleeps at all).

X in his alone time.
This guy is an icon, a pillar and still a sturdy foundation of Philippine Ultimate

Rollers are like ice cream for these guys.

Right before leaving for a session.

Stretching on the beach under the Three o'clock sun.

Raking the hard sand.
Wet season is kicking in. This means, higher high tides on the white beach. That leaves an almost concrete hard sand. The Dragons need to loosen the sand for them to play safely.

Additional help.
Mico Gonzales and kuya Danny Dematera pass by Boracay (From the Nationals in Bacolod) to support and help in the trainings.

Dragons train for WCBU 2017 in Royan, France

Young Gun.
Youngest of the group, Miguel Leechiu (Metro Manila) goes for a bid.

Popoy Looks out for cutters as he catches the Disc.
Fast cuts and passes are the signature of the Boracay Dragons.

Boboy throws over a tight defense from Dada.

Paloy cuts as Tajii looks for options over Popoy.

Paloy waiting for cutters after a catch from a clear cut.

Tim Morill (Strength and Conditioning coach for the Dragons; sometimes a practice player also) grabs for a score.

X defends.

X looking to pass.

Miguel Leechiu catches breath after a long rally.

Morning view at the Pearl Of the Orient Resort

X directing a water circuit routine.

"You have to catch up on the Shuttle Runs"
Jeffrey Rodrigez (Boracay) and Leechiu making up for time away from the team.

Kenneth de Guzman Stands after a good stretch.

X cheering for Leechiu as he runs for his last line of shuttle runs.

Last one!
Kenneth cheers for Leechiu to finish his last line of Shuttle Runs.

Leechiu struggles to catch hi breathe. Shuttle runs are hard especially if you are behind everybody.

X and Kenneth Helping Leechiu recover after a Shuttle Run.

Waiting in the Shade as another batch runs.

The Boracay Dragons doing a water circuit. That day was a light training day due to high tides.

Everyone reaches in for a team huddle.

Rest Day! Everyone was excited preparing for a paraw session on a rest morning.

Panoy de los Santos (an original Dragon) prepares the paraw (Sail boat).
Panoy has a couple of paraws and he is a bankero himself. These are his main source of income in the Island.

Rest Day! Everyone was excited preparing for a paraw session on a rest morning.

We left the grill.
Kenneth de Guzman shows that years for being a swimmer comes handy every now and then as he dives to get the grill from the shore.

Heyman Rodil (He's on the island with Danny and Mico) steals a nap on the paraw.

Not just Heyman.
Everybody steals a nap on the paraw as we waited for wind.

Leechiu is on his phone on an area with a poor coverage.

Jordan and Heyman set up the Spikeball.

X makes a makeshift pitch to orient the newcomer Wencie.

Wencie verifies what X has taught him.

Kenneth De Guzman enjoys his siesta on the sand.

Qhenjune stealing nap on our way back.

X foolishly dips his back on the water as we wait for wind. He perform maneuvers like this easily as he also climbs.

Popoy using his legs to row us back into shore.

Everyone helps push the paraw over bamboo rollers.

Tim writing this day's workout routine.

Jordan and Mico having a fun talk with Dada.
He skipped last few days of training on the sand because he worked with Tim to concentrate on the recovery of the injury.