How I Did It? (AOBUC 2019)
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| Thank you, Ben Yap for this photo! |
How I did it?
“Don, if you want to
go to Japan, better start saving up some money or do some fundraising soon.”
That’s what Karen told me a few months before AOBUC 2019. At that time, I was
like, “Nah, I don't think I’ll be able to make it in time to save up or even
have another fundraising miracle just like what happened in 2017.” Especially
when almost all of the players and teams are doing a ton of fundraising
activities lately, I’m sure that most of them will have no time to do one for a
photographer. I asked a couple of people if they can do it for me, but that
didn't materialize either. So, the dream of going to Japan is again, just
another dream.
Weeks after, I
received a Facebook notification one afternoon and it was from Patrick Van Der
Valk, founder of Beach Ultimate Lovers Association or BULA asking about a
certain photo. We chatted for a short time and he asked, “Will I see you in
Japan this coming June?” “I would really love to go” I answered back. “But
funding is the problem.” After a couple of hours, another notification got my
attention, and again it was from Patrick.
“Hi Don, I just talked to the organization. I
can get you food and accommodations for 4 days, plus allowance. I know this
won't pay for your trip, but if you're interested we’d love to have you.
” Goosebumps all
over my body. Felt a little dizzy for a moment and I answered back:
“That’s awesome,
Patrick! I guess I need to find a way to get to Japan. I would love to do it.”
After our conversation ended. I asked myself,
“What the hell just happened?”
8 weekends of
Ultimate.
The month of April and May was a blessing.
Though I didn't get enough sleep and time to do some stuff for myself, those 8
weekends of Ultimate tournaments really helped me save up some money. Those
were the days that literally doing laundry at home was my rest day. The moment
my clothes were dry, I fold them up, shove them inside my duffle bag and head
to the airport for another Ultimate destination. The month of April and May was
rough. But I have to do it. I need to do it. To be part of the Philippine Team
delegation in any sport is always a dream of mine. Doing it for the country.
Photographing the Filipino Athletes in the international arena. Telling their
stories to the world to inspire others. Showcasing the Filipino talents through
my photos, sharing them to other people - how good we are. It is the role that
I need to play. So, even though it was hard. Unfair to my family that I was
always away, it was unfair to my mom… but, I just need to do it. The 8 weekends
of Ultimate was done, and I only have a few weeks to go before Japan. And I
think I have enough budget for pocket money, train & bus fees and dinner
allowance for the convenience stores in Shirahama.
My Visa was still on
the process and I don't have a plane ticket, yet.
I have nowhere else to go but to seek help
from two people whom I trust the most. I talked to Karen Cabrera about my Visa
and she said “Don’t worry. Trust me. You will get your visa on time.” I
remember back in WCBU In Royan, France when she said “Walang maiiwan sa atin”
and seeing all of us in one plane heading to Paris, I know that she will move
mountains for all of us to be there. The next person that I called up was
Chlods Manguerra, she immediately looked for flights and after a while, she
messaged me and said, “Don, you are going to Japan!” My hope and dream of going
to the land of the rising sun were becoming a reality. After that, during the
Nationals, Gio from Iloilo messaged me that Ry-ry, a local player wanted to
give me his extra Yens from his last trip to Japan. After I posted something
about Japanese Sim cards, Jane of the Women’s team bought me a Japanese sim
card at her own expense. Vim sent me an email that Double Happiness will share
some for the trip as well. JH from Bacolod also tried his best to do a
fundraising hat tournament for me and Quinjune. Ben Yap of the Mixed Team also
handed me a few yens as well. When I was having trouble with my wide angle
lens, I had a conversation with Monique who is a promising Ultimate Photographer
from Manila, she offered me her lens. An offer that I seriously can't refuse. I
know it’s really not necessary to tell you all of these, but what they did was
a big deal for me personally. The trip would never be possible without them. I
just wanted to say thank you to these individuals and to the people who made
this experience possible. I hope that someday I will have the ways and means to
return the favor.
Shooting Japan.
I was walking down the streets of Osaka.
Finally, I’m in
Japan! Osaka is beautiful. And quiet. And clean. Even the air you breathe
smells clean. Well, maybe because we arrived in Osaka at around 11:00pm and
everything's close at this hour except for a ramen and takoyaki food truck and
a 7-Eleven store. Maybe that’s the reason why the whole place was quiet. So, I
was expecting very busy streets during day time. After a good night sleep together with my awesome roommates (shoutout to Angelique,
Chai, Gika, Ayrton and T-Dawg), I got myself ready for a long trip to
Shirahama, Japan. I walked down the streets heading to the train station, and
though there were now a few folks walking around, the streets were still quiet,
cool, and clean. The air still smells unbelievably fresh. You can see a lot of
happy faces and they love to say hi to people. It was really nice for a change.
After a train ride and a 2 and a half hour bus
ride with a rapid fast wifi connection (yes, there’s a wifi connection wherever
you go. Convenience stores have wifi, twas crazy!) we have arrived in the
beautiful town of Shirahama. The home of the 2019 Asia Oceanic Beach Ultimate
Championships. Let me tell you this, if Osaka is clean, Shirahama is definitely
the cleanest place I’ve been to. The sidewalks were dust free, you can take a
nap if you want to, clean beaches, clean air, everything's clean! It was so
clean that they don't need garbage disposals in every corner of the town. Maybe
that's the secret. Don't put garbage cans in every corner so people are forced
to bring their trash home, or maybe Japanese is just well disciplined and well-mannered people that they know how to take care of their town.
I was in work mode
the moment I got in. I went to see Patrick first for quick instructions, and of
course to thank him for this amazing opportunity. Went to see Karen at the
registration room and immediately went to the beach, preparing myself for the
Parade of Nations.
The Parade of
Nations is the moment that I'm always excited about. Seeing every color of
every participating nation. Seeing our Philippine Flag dancing in the air,
being raised by our proud Filipino flag bearers together with the rest of Asia
Oceania countries, it was definitely and always will be the proudest moment
that you will ever experience. The flag is just a flag when you are at home.
When you see it in your school, in the offices, in cars, pedicabs or in
television. But when the time comes that you are representing your country
wearing that three stars and the sun on your uniforms, or even seeing the word
“Country: The Philippines” in your tournament ID cards, you see those colors
differently. The Flag is the most beautiful thing that you will ever see out
there. I’ve been to a couple big international tournaments abroad, and I tell
you, the moment you hear your Country being called during the Parade of
Nations, you feel nothing but love.
And I’m not even playing. I was just there to
shoot people.
The games has
finally begun. Day 1 and Day 2 was a walk in the park as the three Filipino
teams managed to win all their games. They all looked unbeatable, grooming
themselves to go all the way. Me, on the other hand, had a little bit of a
dilemma. I was one of the official photographers of the tournament, and it's
hard for me not to shoot all the Philippine team games. So what I did was to
try and shoot near the pitches where the Philippine teams were playing, shoot
the other games and try to get a few snaps of the Filipinos dominating the
sands of Shirahama beach. After the day ends, I meet up with Karen and Buboy
for my free buffet dinner at Musashi Hotel. I gotta say, in my 41 years of
existence, that was definitely the best and most beautiful meals I had. The
Japanese really know how to cook mostly everything.
Day 3 was without a doubt one of the worst
shooting conditions I've ever been to. It was dark, it was wet, too windy and
freezing. There was a time that I was walking as fast as I could from field 7
all the way to field 3 and 4 where the volunteer tent was located with my
cameras under my shirt trying to prevent them from getting wet because the rain
just surprisingly dropped on us (hindi man lang umambon ng konti).
During the
heavy rain and strong winds, we were trapped under the player's tent for quite a
while. The women's team tried to do their warm-ups for their semifinal game,
but they went back in the tent because the cold and rain were unbearable. The
mixed team had no choice but to keep on playing under the icy rain and freezing
wind. Not used to that kind of condition, they had a hard time to break away
from Australia in the semis. But they were determined to win the battle. They
put a lot of work into it. They hustled together, and they succeeded in the end.
A portion of the showcase field (Field 3) was eaten by the ocean after the
heavy rain, but that didn’t bother the Men’s team either, all they can think of
was to run and take the semifinal win against Singapore. And they sure did.
They were like possessed men. They were on another level during that game.
Their best game of the tournament. They played with a lot of heart.
Yes, we have a Women’s Masters team back in
Dubai and Royan, but this was the first ever Women’s team that is not Masters.
(Just wanted to make things clear here.) I saw how they worked extra hard back
in Boracay They never gave up from the beatings of the island heat. And
it showed that they were ready to tackle the challenges of Shirahama in days 1
and 2. But as the tournament went on, it is all about how ready you are
physically and mentally as an individual and as a team. After their loss
against Singapore, they were still the number one team in the standings but they
have to face a familiar foe in Japan Vegegriffons, who they won against in the
Elimination round. But this time though, the Vegegriffons line up was complete
compared to the last time that they faced each other (they were only 8 Japanese
players during their first game).
It was a hard-fought battle under a very tough
and bad weather condition. We can’t blame the weather. It is what it is. But it
definitely affected both teams at that moment. So it is just a matter of who
wanted it more. There is a difference between you watching the game on the stream,
than being there on the sidelines with them. You can really feel the intensity
that they really wanted to win, you feel their excitement when they score and
the motivation that they give to their teammates when they need to take a point
back after the opposing team scored against them. The cold wind and rain kept
on punishing both teams, the Filipinas worked hard on their last defense, but
Japan scored the final point to seal the victory. It was a heartbreaking loss,
I felt it. After hearing Alex and Cess talking to the rest of the team and
seeing every member’s face of defeat, It feels like Royan again when the boys
lost to GBR in the semis. It feels like Dubai again after the men's team lost
to the US on universe point. It was hard to shoot after the Women’s loss in the
semis. I really wanted them to win. And it's kinda hard to show a straight face
right in front of everybody after that tough loss. But just like what Coach
Jude said, “There are no shortcuts on winning championships. You got to put in the
work.” I just need to suck it up and keep on shooting under the freezing rain.
Day 4 was the busiest day of the tournament.
The Women’s team battle for third game, the three Championship games, updating
the AAU page after every game, team pictures while trying to push myself a
little more. Have you ever had that feeling where you know that you are not
tired but your feet and legs are in a lot of pain because of walking and
standing for the past 4 days? I guess that means, you're tired, huh? Yah, I guess
I was a bit tired during those times. But I need to push through. It was the
final day of the tournament and it was such an amazing moment, seeing two out
of three teams in the Championship round, one team just won a very exciting
bronze medal game. It was definitely a proud moment for every Filipino who was
out there on the beach of Shirahama. After witnessing the Women’s team bag
bronze against a strong team from Singapore, the Men’s and the Mixed team knew
right there and then that they were not going to go down without a fight. Their
eyes were fixed on one thing, and that is winning the gold medal.
Now that the Men’s
and Mixed teams were in the Finals, one thing that was really hard to control
was cheering them on. I need to stay on the equal ground all the time while I was
shooting on the sidelines. So every time they score or made an exciting play, I
was screaming and cheering on the inside while trying to maintain my normal
face on the outside. Or trying to hide my face behind the camera and do a silent
chant of “Pi-Li-Pi-Nas! Clap, clap, clap-clap-CLAP!” I’m pretty sure I look
stupid during those moments, but you got to do what you gotta do to cheer for
your country, to cheer for your friends. To cheer for your family.
I’ve seen their
struggles, their sacrifices, the hard work that they did back on the island.
The injuries. The good times and bad. I know that WCBU was different, I
witnessed them shed a tear or two during those tournaments because they
fell short of taking that elusive gold medal. This time around though, I saw
them shedding tears of joy together with their brothers and sisters heading
back home with not just one but two gold medals and bronze around their
necks.
It was definitely a
great time to be a Filipino.
I know, we have a lot of hardships and a ton
of problems in this country. In our households and even in our own community.
But in some way, what the three Philippines teams did in Shirahama, Japan a couple of weeks ago gave us a glimmer of hope that if we only work together and
leave all the hate, and bad vibes out of the door and focus on what lies ahead,
I guess we will do just fine in the future.
That's how I did it.
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