Sports pillar…

From Page 18 “The key is to build upwards in a pyramid where the grassroots base is strong,” he said. “It takes a lot of dedication and drive for an athlete to excel and sports officials must set a good example of discipline and sacrifice. Technology is essential. If our athletes aren’t exposed to new techniques in strengthening their skills and conditioning, we won’t go far. Even if I’ve been forgotten, I think my contribution of pushing for NSA autonomy was significant. In our time, sports officials and sportswriters were united in fighting for reforms. Teddy Benigno and Virgilio Pantaleon were with us. Mariano Yenko, Henry Quema, Luis Javellana, Tony de las Alas and Ambrosio Padilla were some of our exemplary leaders.”

Monserrat said recognizing the problem was essential to finding a solution. “When I became president of the Philippine Football Federation, we were getting clobbered by Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan with scores of 14-0 and 12-0,” he said. “Our problem was coaching. So I recruited four Spanish coaches, including Juan Cutillas and Tomas Lozano and asked San Miguel Corp. to sponsor them. Then we organized BOFA, a boys league, with Leo Prieto and John Clelland to develop a new core of players. After two or three years, the results were evident. From four boys teams, we grew to hundreds. We became competitive in Asia and to sustain the program, added two more coaches from England and Scotland. With good results, we were able to generate more sponsors.”

Contrary to his notion, Monserrat isn’t forgotten in Philippine sports history. He will forever be revered as a bastion of integrity, a man of vision and action, with a heart for the Filipino athlete.