The head coach of the Arellano University Cheifsquad Lucky San Juan admitted that the task of completing a four-peat put more pressure on him as a coach.
Good thing for them, their preparations were all worth it in the end as they succeeded in winning the NCAA Season 98 Cheerleading Competition on Sunday.
"Siyempre sobrang saya dahil I'm not expecting naman na makakabuo ako ng ganun kasi dumaan ang pandemic then lahat ng player ko na nag-champion before, nawala na kasi sila. Puro bago, if may luma dyan dalawa or tatlo," said San Juan.
"Kung anong maging resulta ng maging work nila, doon kami mag-base. Awa ng Diyos, maganda ang resulta."
"Worth it naman, nag-champion kami," he added.
("Of course, very happy because I'm not expecting that we would be able to do this because the pandemic passed by and all of my players who were champions before are gone. These are all new, if there are old players here, only two or three... Whatever the result of their work, that's where we'll base. And thanks to God, the result was good... It was worth it, we won the championship.")
San Juan admitted that he was nervous coming into the competition, especially since they were the defending three-time champions. The Arellano coach said they started training in August.
"Meron pa rin namang kaba. Ito yung season na sobrang pressure for me kasi nga dahil nga gaya ng sinasabi ko sa boss ko, 'yung athlete ko ngayon is malakas, 'yung dati magaling," explained San Juan.
"Kumbaga as a coach, mas matutuwa ako sa magaling kesa sa malakas. Siyempre pag malakas ka, ang kulang sayo mindset mo," which is what San Juan worked out with his team.
("There were still nerves. This was the season where there was a lot of pressure for me because as I explained to my boss, my current athletes are strong, but my old athletes were good... As a coach, you would be happier with good players over strong ones. When you're strong, you could still be lacking in mindset.")
And the work starts anew, this time for the five-peat.
"Ang mahirap sa part namin, magde-defend kami. Hindi kami ang naghahabol. Ime-maintain lang dapat namin ang title," said San Juan.
"History 'yang championship na 'yan, bukas hindi na kayo champion. Back to work na."
("The difficult thing on our part is we're defending. We're not chasing. We have to maintain the title... This championship is history, tomorrow you're not champion anymore. We have to get back to work.")
—JMB, GMA Integrated News
