New management. New players. New hope.
These are proper descriptions for the National University Bulldogs, who are in the rebuilding mode in the 72nd UAAP season.
What’s exciting is the fact that head coach Manny Dandan and his assistant Chico Manabat made a decision to combine physical-mental preparation with the spiritual feeding of their players.
Pastor Bong Navarro, our dynamic youth pastor in Victory Caloocan, currently heads the weekly small group meeting with the team.
Pastor Bong told me that players are enthusiastic and are hopeful for the future.
I couldn’t agree more.
For one, physical preparation is just one aspect of basketball. Spiritual preparation plays an important role in a team’s quest not just to win in the hard court, but most importantly, in the game of life as well.
Eight years ago, Pastor Bong and I began a small group with the NU Bulldogs, which at that time, was coming off their usual losing season in the UAAP.
And Chico Manabat was in his final season back then. Though at the start, there was some resistance considering that they look at us as “religious” people, eventually, as we build friendship with the players, they begin to realize that we’re not basically there to “convert” them but to help them build a personal relationship with God.
That same season, the Bulldogs’ frame of mind began to change.
They started beating teams that they don’t normally beat.
UST, a traditional powerhouse, along with Ateneo, University of the East and Far Eastern University tasted defeats at the hands of NU.
NU and UE figured in a sudden death match to determine, which team will earn the final slot for the Final Four.
In a game that was played in two overtime periods, NU displayed resilience and faith, something the team never really had for many, many years.
The Bulldogs beat the Red Warriors in that game and advanced to the Final Four, the first time ever in the school’s long UAAP history. NU eventually lost to La Salle in the Final Four, but the experience and the breakthrough the team had that season left a huge mark to the school and the coaching staff.
This year, Chico has high hopes that what will take the team to the next level isn’t just the X’s and O’s (game strategies) but the spiritual preparation the players get during the small group.
Small groups won’t guarantee a winning season, but a genuine personal relationship with God will. A winning season that begins in the heart and eventually manifests on the outside.