Team manager shows pride with dedication
Student shares close bond with varsity boys basketball team.
February 4, 2016
Basketball. A game of competition, passion and spirit. The ultimate feeling of dribbling a basketball from left to right in many combinations and free throwing the ball in the basket defines the game. Satisfaction runs through the veins of a player as the cheerleaders moves the crowd with cheers after a successful shot has been made by one of the players. The adrenaline flows within the teams as they dribble, pass and shoot as the clock ticks until the buzzer goes off.
With teamwork, technique and dedication, a team can win a game and be successful in the future.
Today we look at the sidelines of a successful team. Junior Emmanuel Pichay, or what the students refer to him as “Manny,” is a junior studying at McKinley High School. Pichay is the team manager of the McKinley varsity boys basketball team.
He said being team manager of the basketball team is like taking care of everyone in the team. He helps the players prepare for games before they start. The players practice their lay ups, offense and defense. In action, he keeps the players on the bench refreshed as the water boy. He sits with the players on the bench and watches them play as he make sure everyone on the team is content.
“Manny is a very hard worker,” said senior Ray Jay John. “He comes out to the basketball team and help us out.”
“Manny is a good guy,” senior Nikko Venzon said. “He does a lot of things for us during basketball season.”
Not only does Manny help the team in practice sessions, he brings fun to it. Both John and Venzon said that after practice they would mess around with him and the team in the gym.
“Let’s just say, this is a fun and cool experience,” Pichay said. “I just wanna be there even if I didn’t make it on the team,” Pichay said. The coach asked him if he wanted to be team manager after tryouts for the team. Manny showed his good sportsmanship and became the team’s manager. He showed his dedication by going to meetings early and always being on time.
Pichay became passionate about basketball when he was on the basketball team at Central Middle School during 7th and 8th grade. Before basketball games, Pichay usually shoots around with the other team manager.
“It’s kinda fun,” Pichay said. “It actually felt like playing basketball with my friends at the park.”
The basketball players like John and Venzon think
of Pichay as a brother to them. Pichay said the basketball team was like family to him.
“Without him, it probably might not be that much fun or motivational,” John said. “Just from him being an individual to all of us, he’s like a brother to us so he helps us. If he wasn’t there, then things would be different after practice because every time we huddle up, we say something. He would be the last one to say something and shake everybody’s hand and motivate us,” John said.
“I was surprised because we already have a team manager,” Venzon said.
“Having two was even better because there was two people doing a lot of things for us,” Venzon said. “I think the team would stay the same, but it won’t be that much fun because we don’t get to joke around with someone like him,”Venzon said.
“I have a nice personality and that’s what says a lot about me,” Pichay said.
This article was originally published on February 4, 2016. Language errors were corrected on March 8, 2015.
