Not known to many, Boyet Fernandez actually had a nursing license way before he got into coaching basketball.
He finished his nursing degree at Colegio San Agustin-Bacolod and his parents, who were both in the medicine field, were actually pushing him to pursue it rather than trying his hand at sports.
But why did the concurrent San Beda University head coach trade it for a career in basketball?
“That time, the salaries of nurses were not that high enough in the Philippines but nurses were in demand in the Middle East, US, (and) Europe but basketball was really part of our lives back then,” said Fernandez on 'Rise Up Stronger: The Road to NCAA Season 96' Wednesday.
“It was really hard to be a nurse because your schedule is based on your duties in the hospital and my father really made me realize that basketball is not forever.”
Although he has passion for tending to patients, Fernandez shared he grew up in a household fond of basketball as his father and two older brothers used to play the sport in their younger days.
This fueled the tactician to pursue basketball.
While reviewing for the board exam, he plunged into the basketball circle as part of the national team that won gold in the 1992 Southeast Asian Games, where he played alongside PBA legend Johnny Abarrientos.
After that, he heard the news that he passed the nursing board but decided to focus on basketball.
“When I received the result of the board that I passed while playing being part of the national team, I told myself that I’d be playing basketball for now,” he shared, while saying his family was supportive of him.
The rest — including a successful professional playing career in the PBA and several coaching stints in different leagues — is history.
Fernandez is now among the top names in the coaching circle after leading Sta. Lucia to the 2007-2008 PBA Philippine Cup title while also making a name in college ranks, steering San Beda to four NCAA titles.
Watch GMA Synergy's 'Rise Up Stronger: The Road to NCAA Season 96' every weekday (2:45 p.m.), Saturdays (4:30 p.m.), and Sundays (5:05 p.m.) on GTV.
—Bea Micaller/JMB, GMA News
