Vanguardia won’t turn his back on coaching
Despite being named as alternate governor and sports director of Blackwater, Ariel Vanguardia is not turning his back on coaching.
Coaching has been his bread and butter since coming out of college, so Vanguardia hopes to share his knowledge to whoever wants to learn from him, and of course he intends to conduct clinics especially to his beloved city – Calamba.
The 46-year-old Vanguardia is also grateful to Blackwater owner Dioceldo Sy for showing his trust and confidence on him.
“This is new to me, being a coach is different from the new positions I have now although if you think about it, you still carry or bring the same responsibility,” said Vanguardia.
“Of course I’m thankful to boss Dioceldo Sy and Siliman Sy for their trust. Hopefully the experience I gained during my coaching stints in college, in the ABL, and then in the PBA will help me as sports director and alternate governor of the team in the PBA board,” he added.
Vanguardia started his ‘head’ coaching career with the Jose Rizal Heavy Bombers from 2006 to 2009, won Coach of the Year honors with Westports Malaysia in the ASEAN Basketball League in 2015 and the following year he steered the Dragons to the title.
Last year, Vanguardia called the shots for Phoenix Fuel in the PBA.
Vanguardia, who admires NLEX mentor Yeng Guiao both as coach and politician with his plans to pursuit a position in the lone district of Calamba City in Laguna, coached the iECO Green Warriors in last month’s Terrific 12 of The Asia League in Macau.