What can’t Chan not do?
Multi-tasking is something that Mark Chan does for a living. He’s a sports agent representing PBA players Gabe Norwood, Bitoy Omolon and J. R. Aquino. He’s an import recruiter whose list of clients includes Jason Forte and Myron Allen. He’s the local affiliate of the Los Angeles-based Basketball Beyond Borders agency owned by former Canadian national basketball player Robert Wilson whose network extends to several stations in Europe, Korea and Brazil. He’s producing a TV sports show entitled “No Basket” to air 10 a.m. Sundays on Studio 23, starting April 1, with alternating hosts like Arwind Santos, Dondon Hontiveros, Marcio Lassiter and Tony de la Cruz. And he’s the team manager of the Arellano University basketball varsity.
Additionally, Chan wants to become a sportswriter and he’s looking around for an opportunity to crash a broadsheet or a magazine as if what he’s got on his plate isn’t enough.
Chan, 30, has solid credentials to back up his ambition of becoming the hardest-working guy in sports. He grew up loving the PBA as a boy, watching his favorite team Ginebra win championships in 1990 and 1997. Chan will never forget Billy Ray Bates, Michael Hackett, Rudy Distrito, Noli Locsin, E. J. Feihl, Pido Jarencio, Vince Hizon, Bal David, Marlou Aquino, Chris King, Terry Saldana and the Big J stamping their class as PBA stars.
In 2000, Chan left the country to enroll at the University of Toronto. He earned his undergraduate degree four years later, worked in Toronto and returned to Manila in 2005. Hooked into hoops, Chan joined a camp organized by the Basketball Coaches Association of the Philippines (BCAP) and met Koy Banal. Chan saw in Banal the mentor who could show him the way to a coaching career. Banal appreciated Chan’s enthusiasm and brought him in as an assistant at San Beda College after taking over the head coaching helm from Nash Racela. The Red Lions ended up with a 4-10 record in the NCAA that season but in 2006, Banal was determined to end the varsity’s 28-year championship drought.
**** “The hardest part about the team turnaround had to have been the mental conditioning of the players,” recalled Chan. “For a long time, not a lot of players on the team believed we could win it all. But as we started to win Fr. Martin Cups and various tune-up games, everyone started buying into the concept that we were no longer losers. Yousif Aljamal exemplified this belief with his on-court leadership. Soon, players like Alex Angeles, Pong Escobal, Ogie Menor, Bam Gamalinda, J. R. Tecson, Jay-r Taganas and Sam Ekwe started to believe in this frame of mind. They not only did that, they also believed in each other. And so the team that ended San Beda’s 28-year title drought did so by believing in themselves first before they ever touched a basketball in that NCAA season.”
In 2007, Chan took up graduate studies at AIM and was later selected to finish his Master’s studies at UCLA on an international student exchange program. He made it to UCLA’S Dean’s List and after graduation, was hired by Johnson and Johnson to work in the US. Chan was eventually reassigned to Manila.
Last month, Chan decided to become a fulltime, self-employed professional and live his dream of being everything he can be in sports. What excites Chan in his multitude of tasks is reuniting with Banal at Arellano after 5 1/2 years from their San Beda breakthrough.
“I’m helping coach Koy put together a winning program with emphasis on recruiting and academic excellence for our players,” said Chan. “Like San Beda in 2006, Arellano is a team that is young and hungry. The parallels are mindboggling. Rocky Acidre wears the same number and even plays a lot like Alex Angeles, the San Beda captain in season 82. The team has promising rookies in the horizon, like San Beda had in 2006. We believe that the Chiefs have what it takes to win and become one of the best teams in the NCAA.”
**** Chan said if Banal is Gene Hackman in the movie “Crimson Tide,” his first assistant Eric Gonzales is Denzel Washington. The other lead assistant Gilbert Castillo played with Letran in the ‘90s and enjoyed a PBA career. “Eric has years of training, experience and big game knowledge that he imparts to the players on a daily basis,” said Chan. “Gilbert is mild-mannered and extremely passionate in teaching the fundamentals of coach Koy’s system to the players and gives advice to those hoping to achieve what he did in the past.” The others in the coaching staff are Aries Reyes, Ricky Natividad, Luis Nolasco and strength and conditioning coach Dario De Rosas. “Each member of the staff has been assembled to provide the winning edge required to conquer seemingly insurmountable obstacles for the team,” he said.
At the top of the Arellano coaching totem pole is Banal who has promised to give his all in pursuit of excellence with the Chiefs. “Just like the Ginebra team that laid the foundations of a championship with good selections in the draft, coach Koy is laying the foundation of victory with top-level recruiting that will give the Chiefs the fighting chance they need to win a title,” said Chan. “And I’m looking forward to helping him do just that and celebrating with him one more time just like we did 5 1/2 years ago in Mendiola.”
Chan has his work cut out for himself and that’s exactly how he likes it.