The pain from a heartbreak in 1992 remains fresh for Arvin Bonleon, the newly-appointed head coach for the rebuilding San Sebastian College-Recoletos Stags in the NCAA.
Bonleon, then a rising young point guard, suited up for the Staglets for four years before bringing his talent to the seniors squad in the early 90s where he would play alongside teammates Rodney Santos and Aldrin Morante. In his third year with the Stags in 1992, the team reached the finals of Season 68 where they would be pitted against Colegio de San Juan de Letran in the championship round.
The Stags, though, faltered in two games as the Knights captured their 12th title.
Out of frustration, Bonleon packed his bags, headed home to his family's hometown in Davao, and forgot about his favorite sport, deciding not to play hoops for close to a year after that finals heartbreak.
"May unfinished business ako kasi natalo kami. Umiyak talaga ako nu’ng last game at umuwi ako and talagang nag-decide ako na ayaw ko na sa basketball after nu’ng talo na ‘yon," Bonleon told GMA Integrated News during San Sebastian's participation in GMA Masterclass last Tuesday.
"Ngayon, nakabalik ako as a coach and gusto kong ibalik ‘yung glory ng Baste."
[I have unfinished business because we lost. I cried after the last game and went home and I decided I didn't want to play basketball anymore after that loss... Now, I'm back as a coach and I want to bring back glory to Baste.]
For several months that year, Bonleon forgot about basketball completely.
"‘Yung bahay namin nasa harap ng basketball court at niyayaya ako ng mga kaibigan ko kasi alam nila umuwi ako pero ‘yung mama ko sasabihin sa kanila na ‘ayaw na mag-basketball ng anak ko eh.’ 10 months siguro, less than a year."
[Our house was right in front of a basketball court and my friends would invite me because they knew I went home. But my mama would tell them, 'my son doesn't want to play basketball anymore.' That was 10 months, less than a year.]
But he wasn't going to be able to keep himself away from the game he loved.
"One time, ‘yung best friend ko inaya ako ng laro sa club so doon ako nagbalik and sabi ko ‘ang sarap pala maglaro,’" he recalled.
"Then I enrolled sa Holy Cross (of Davao College) sandali and naglaro kami ng national tournament sa Bacolod."
[One time, my best friend invited me to play at the club so I returned and said 'it feels so good to play.' Then I enrolled at Holy Cross and we played at the national tournament in Bacolod.]
That was the restart of his playing and coaching career in basketball.
Bonleon played in various leagues such as the Philippine Basketball League with the Chowking Fastfood Kings and Montaña Jewels. He also played for the Davao Eagles in the Metropolitan Basketball Association (MBA) before transitioning to coaching.
As a coach, he has plenty of experience as well, having called the shots for the Gensan Warriors both in Liga Pilipinas and PBA D-League while serving as deputy for Davao Occidental Tigers in the MPBL.
Now at 50 years old, Bonleon comes full circle as he was recently appointed as the Stags' head coach which would mark his return to the NCAA after 32 years.
After their 1992 loss to the Knights, the Stags went on to win the next five titles to build a formidable dynasty in the league. Bonleon missed out on being part of that as he did not to return to Manila until his PBL stint in 1995.
But now that he's back, Bonleon has his mind on settling this unfinished business — and steer the Stags back to a winning track.
"Goal ko lang talaga maiangat ‘yung records nila and maipasok sa Final Four and ‘pag pumasok ka sa Final Four another story na ‘yon," Bonleon shared.
"Pero ang principle ko kasi every time na sasali ako ng tournament, gusto ko lalaro sa last day, meaning gusto kong maglaro sa championship. ‘Yun talaga ang motivation ko even nu’ng player pa lang ako."
[My goal is to raise the record and enter the Final Four and if we can enter the Final Four, that's another story then... But my principle is every time I join a tournament, I want to play until the last day, meaning I was to play for the championship. That's my motivation, even when I was still a player.]
—JMB, GMA Integrated News
