Next Generation

Many sons follow the footsteps of their fathers for many obvious reasons. In fact, if you take a look at the new crop of players in the amateur and the young professional ranks of Philippine basketball there are many familiar sounding family names.

Billy Mamaril, son of former Ginebra center Romulo, is one of the more popular second-generation players that have made it to the PBA.

Before him, there were of course the Loyzaga brothers - Chito and Joey, who are sons of the Big Difference, Caloy, once the icon of Philippine basketball. There was also Jason Webb, son of former pro ballplayer and Senator Freddie and of course, Robert Jaworski, Jr., who I mentioned in my last column.

Former Crispa player Freddie Hubalde has a son who is fast making it big in the hoop world and so does Sonny Cabatu.

It is no surprise that kids of basketball players also play the game since they got their parents' genes plus the influence of seeing their father play.

There is also Niño Ramirez, son of ex-pro Jay Ramirez and former national volleyball team standout and Cebu Sports Hall of Famer Marilou Jao-Ramirez.

There are also many sons who have surpassed their father's achievements inside the court and some that will probably forever play under the shadow of their father, whose abilities are hard to match.

There are also parents, who never became top-caliber athletes, but became the guiding force behind the careers of their children.

Many years ago, when you talk of sprinting, you can never detach the name of Tatang de Vega from that of Asia's fastest woman, Lydia.

Tatang saw to it that Lydia became what she was in the 1980s and together they brought a lot of honor to our country.

Four-time Bowling World Cup champion Rafael 'Paeng' Nepumuceno made it the Guinness Book of World Records, but he could not have done it without his father, who also served as his coach.

In the international scene, Earl Woods made sure that his son Eldrick (Tiger) would make it big in the sport of golf despite all the odds that the young man had to go through because of his skin color.

Many of us parents have moved heaven and earth to get our children to love the same sports that we enjoy or would have loved to play.

Many of us have also failed to get our children to do what we want as they end up more interested in something else.

With whatever resources that we can muster, let us support the interest of our children in sports no matter if they prefer something that we don't play.

I would have preferred my son to play more judo and golf, but he wants football so I let it be. I have friends who never touched a football in the past, but are the staunchest supporters of their children who are now into the sport.

There are also many dads and moms who never had a chance to play any sport, but are at the arena every practice and game day to support their children.

A culture of sports is possible if we parents would not be selfish to our children. Let's give them what we probably missed, but at the same time help them understand that in the real world they must also learn to prioritize what is important.

Let us however remember that "all work and no play would make them dull," but so does "all play and no work." Let us all help promote well-rounded children and the future generation will be better disciplined than the present.