Coach Chot plays on & off court

MANILA, Philippines - Coach Vicente “Chot” Reyes is a celebrity in his own right.

The tears of joy he shed on nationwide television during the height of the FIBA World Cup in the country spelling victory for Filipino players against the Koreans ushered his presence in the consciousness of every Filipino. A historic feat, indeed: Coaching the Philippine Gilas team to the country’s first qualification for the FIBA World Cup in four decades.

Today, Coach Chot is a household name not limited to the sports fanatics. His name is being associated with Filipino tenacity, valor and passion.

Wanna know how he lives his everyday life? Here’s a glimpse. 

“I use the Internet a lot for what I do,” says Chot. He admittedly has a “net-intensive” lifestyle. When coaching the Gilas team, the coach renowned for his unpredictability turned to the Internet for help, studying European basketball teams to figure out what could be turned into an advantage for the Philippine team. You might say the team does not have a particular style. In fact, Chot admits to employing random, unorthodox tactics for each game.

The success of his non-style is quite obvious. But when it comes to Internet access, he says he needs to be certain that his broadband service can deliver. “You can’t just sit there and wait for a video to buffer or download. I communicate with a lot of other coaches, agents, general managers, tour organizers. I get a lot of video e-mail,” he explains. “My broadband should be powerful enough to handle everything I need to do.” That includes activities at home. “Fibr allows us to do all those with no delays, no downtime.”

Like many other satisfied Cignal on Fibr subscribers, Chot passed on his passion to other people around him. “I think I’ve converted all the Gilas guys to Cignal,” he laughs.

Meanwhile, when asked what he’s most proud of among his many achievements, Coach Chot declares, “Raising a family of four, and being married to the same woman for 28 years.”