Shoot Far, Play Hard
Jhanessty Vaye Bautista | Maui High School, Class of 2024
Did you know American Football didn’t exist in the Philippines until the early 2000s? Even when it was introduced, it was the variant of flag football which first gained a lot of traction. Since then, the industry of football has turned into its own organization. If that’s the case, however, which sport do Filipinos love and play the most? If you guessed basketball, you are correct.
Basketball can be simply described as being able to shoot a ball into a hoop from various distances while an opposing team tries to stop you. I wasn’t introduced to basketball until my last year of middle school, and even then, I only played the sport for a year. In that year, I built long lasting relationships, developed a mindset filled with perseverance and persistence and of course, built my endurance and strength over the many miles I had to run. Although the journey only lasted a year, the lessons I learned from the sport have been prevalent throughout my whole high school career. And the journey I faced is not something only I have been lucky to witness.
Making his basketball debut in the seventh grade, Varin Jhon Bautista describes how basketball taught him how to persevere in different situations. “I have to use confidence to succeed in situations I might not be comfortable in. It reminds me I have to be dedicated and hardworking to actually see improvement,” Varin explains. Now entering his Junior year of high school, it is hard to replicate the thrilling emotions he experienced during his first year of basketball. The sport has become a distant hobby for him, “I will always play sports even if I’m not on an official team because it reminds me I have to work more and more to exceed expectations.” Other than affecting his ideals, his endearment for watching the sport also exhilarates the feeling of what losing feels like and how awesome it feels to get back up from a loss.
At age six, Dylan Domingo felt familiar feelings of endearment for watching the sport but just being able to watch instead of playing was bittersweet. “I would spend most of my time on the bench but whenever my coaches put me on the floor, I’d give it my best through intense hustle. I wanted to prove to my coaches I was worthy of being something more,” he voices. He would go on to spend hours every day honing his skills for the sport alone and with his friends. His determination paid off but not in the likely way he nor you would expect. “Although my love for basketball is large, I find myself not wanting to pursue basketball any longer,” he reveals. Although he successfully made it on the junior varsity team in high school, Dylan realized making the team was not the dream he always sought to experience. Now, focusing on his education, he takes that dedication and passion he had for the sport and uses it to drive his future in coding.
Basketball, like every sport, is also one bringing a sense of connectedness among communities. Noah Santiago enjoyed playing and watching the sport with his friends and family from an early age. “[It gives] me a sense of togetherness as a community. Whether it’s cheering for the Lakers, talking about recent games or even playing pickup games, I get the chance to meet new people who share a common interest,” he explains. As the name suggests, pickup games are where people “pick up” or engage in games with random people. It’s an informal way of playing basketball as you play with random people. “Some of my best memories come from playing basketball with my friends at our local park,” he reminisces. He continues to play sports because of the impact it had on his relationships with others and himself.
Although basketball is the talk of the Philippines, there are other sports the country gets to engage in. “Eskrima also known as Arnis is the Filipino national martial arts which involves a plethora of many different unique styles and arts,” explains Dominick Guiwa. Back and forth from California to Maui, Dominick keeps himself grounded with the national martial arts: “Eskrima has greatly impacted my life with teachings of my Philippine history and heritage. The martial arts has overall brought me closer to my roots.” Eskrima is not just a sport, it is an art and an important skill set of his life. Additionally, he gets to stay fit by doing something he loves and can learn from.
Many have grown up with a sport, loved a sport, hated a sport and maybe have pursued a sport in a professional career. Sports are a big part of everyone’s childhood and growing up with it has given people the ability to build important life skills in a non-traditional way. So again, in life, it’s important to apply the saying “Shoot far, play hard” because sometimes, that’s all you need to do to find success.
Google® Is Not Everything is a monthly column authored by high school students. The title of the column emphasizes education is more than just googling a topic. Google® is a registered trademark. This month’s guest columnist is Jhanessty Vaye Bautista, a Senior at Maui High School. She is a President of Maui High’s Key Club, Vice-President of Maui High’s Filipino Cultural Club, Executive Secretary of Maui High’s Student Government, a member of Blue Thunder, Maui High’s Robotics club, and member of the National Honor Society. Jhanessty is in the ACOM Pathway at Maui High, focusing on graphic design and entrepreneurship. In her free time, she reads books of any and all genres, sketches out designs for her new graphics project, sings karaoke alone or with a group of her close family and friends and loves anything with the popular videogame’s Minecraft Bee. She is the daughter of Vanessa and Jhon Boy Bautista.